Demons
by AnimeCat
Summary: Re-uploaded. Its been 23 years. The Gundam pilots have grown and moved on, but Dorothy Catalonia has brought Oz back up from the ashes, and now a second generation has to follow their fathers' footsteps... {H+R and original pairings}
1. Demons

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Demons

__

A.C.218

As the Gemini exploded before him, Kien took a deep breath. Mobile doll or not, he needed to breathe. It was a disadvantage that he was claustrophobic. Big time. He was thankful his father had trained him not to loose his meals in the cockpit.

He took a look around him. Too many! There were just too many mobile dolls for him to handle! He wanted to scream, and he wanted to leap from the cockpit. He took another deep breath and fired the beam rifle at the nearest group of Gemini's. The ones that didn't dodge exploded with a flash of heat and fire. His eyes shot around, firing whenever he saw a cluster of the suits. He bit his lip whenever he missed._ Why can't I be as good as Dad?_ His mind shrieked. 

Something behind his mobile suit blew up. He turned around and looked for the problem. He hadn't shot at the falling Gemini, yet it burned. He looked around desperately for whoever had helped him, for now Gemini were falling all over the battlefield. His radar monitor didn't show any presence of anything. In the corner of his eye, he saw something flying toward him, shooting at the surrounding Gemini. 

He took another breath as it landed only a hundred yards from him. Why wasn't his radar reacting to it? It was almost pure white, with black and yellow variations in several places. It seemed to have a shell covering it. In one giant fist, the mobile suit held a buster rifle identical to his own and in the other, a huge metal rod. Kien wondered its purpose. 

The shell-like covering popped open, exposing the torso of the mobile suit. Kien blinked at the now-upright shell halves. When opened like that, they were like giant wings. The mobile suit lifted the metal rod and Kien saw that the rod created a thermal sword with two curved blades. _No, _he thought, _it's a scythe! Is it…the Deathscythe? No way! Dad told me it was black! _

"Why are you just sitting there?" A muffled voice screamed at him through the transmitter.

"What?" He asked.

"Fight, you idiot!" They screamed. A small picture window opened up on his window monitor. Someone in a space suit was in the other cockpit. The helmet blocked him from seeing the boy's face. 

"Oh, yeah!" Kien shouted, remembering suddenly. He heard the boy make an exasperated sigh. The small picture went away, leaving Kien alone again. He saw the other mobile suit do some serious damage to the dolls. Better than he could, he realized grimly.

Kien was embarrassed to see the other pilot finish Kien's mission before he could even get a chance. 

"Hey!" He shouted angrily. "That was my job!"

With a quick flash of light, the other boy destroyed the control tower of the base. And that was it. No more assailants to tackle. The picture came back. The boy grabbed his helmet and wrenched it off.

"It was my job, too." He (_she?_) said cheerily. Kien's jaw dropped. A girl stared back at him. She had brown hair and violet eyes. She had a red headband on her forehead. She was smiling, but the smile had a cunning edge.

The mobile suit turned around.

"My job is done here," She said roughly, "take care of yourself, kid." 

"But--!" He tried to stop her. The mobile suit took off. "What's your name?"

She smiled once before the image cut.

"My name? To you, I am the Demoness. This is DeathsWings." He saw her violet eyes flash cunningly once more. Then Kien was left alone in the battlefield. _The Demoness…_

____

"The Demoness?" His father questioned as if he didn't believe Kien. Kien nodded, but he didn't say another thing. For some reason, whenever his father stared at him like that, he felt he should do nothing but nod and agree. His father sat down in a chair and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Where have I heard that before? " His father whispered to himself. 

"I don't know, Dad, but she was pretty serious." Kien said nervously. "It was creepy."

"Go tell your mother how the fight went, I have to think." His father said quietly and seemed to shut down. Kien waved his hand in front of his father's face and got no response. He sighed and left the room.

____

__

The Demoness? Heero thought. _Sounds like that girl Duo married…Daye? Yeah, Daye, the psychic girl. But Daye was blond…wasn't she? And I could have sworn she called herself the Angel of Death…and Daye would be too old…and why haven't I heard of this new mobile suit? DeathsWings…Duo…have you had a daughter?_

Heero woke up from deep thought with a flinch. Maybe he should call…after all, they'd hadn't spoken in who knows how long. The wedding, he remembered. Duo had called him after the small ceremony to tell him. Had he been hiding something? Heero realized he'd hid something from Duo as well, not telling Duo about his year-old son. Was it possible Duo had had a daughter and kept that from Heero? Oops, that was fourteen years ago. What a time to call!

Heero wondered if the others had had children as well. He realized he had no clue. Maybe it was time to make a few more calls.

____

"Dad, this kid was totally incompetent!" Aseka shouted into the transmitter monitor. "I was on Earth for a half hour before I started fighting, and he'd been living there!"

Her father shook his head. "And he was piloting Wing Zero?"

"Sure looked like it." Aseka shrugged. "When is Jay going to be here?"

"The Deathscythe needed a little last-minute repairs. It's been years since it's been used. It just needed a Verniae engine upgrade to match up with the mobile suits of today."

"Tell him hi."

"How's Earth?" 

"It's amazing!" Aseka said, her mood lifting. "The shuttle landed in India! Have you ever been there, Dad?"

"A few times." He said. "Have you met anyone else?"

"Who do you mean?"

"If Heero had a son, which I considered almost impossible, the others _have _to have their own kids."

"You want me to find them?" Aseka asked.

"Is it too much trouble?"

"Dad, you're talking to Aseka Dua Maxwell here." Aseka said coyly. "_Nothing_ is too much trouble."

Duo smacked his forehead with his palm, an idiotic smile on his face.

"How silly of me," He said stupidly, "but don't worry about it. If the others have their own kids fighting, you'll meet them at some point."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, actually," Duo said softly, his gaze not meeting hers. An image formed in Aseka's mind. _…Tag along…on my journey into darkness! The small switch inside of the emergency box… explosion…and death…_

"The self-detonator." Aseka said quietly. Duo looked startled.

"Yeah, the detonator." He nodded. "When I fought, the other pilots and I could self-detonate if need be because none of us besides Quatre Raberba Winner had a family to leave behind. But you and Jay…" His voice failed. He took a breath and looked into her eyes. "Both the Deathscythe and DeathsWings have self-detonators. Please Aseka, don't use them, unless…unless…"

"I promise."

"Then that's it." Duo said. "Fight well, Big D."

The transmission cut. Aseka sighed and continued working on the DeathsWings's engine.

____

Duo had only just shut down the monitor when he got another call. He answered it to a very familiar face. Even at thirty-eight, Duo could recognize the cold cobalt eyes. 

"Heero!" He shouted. "Long time no see, eh, Heero?"

A small smile flickered on the Perfect Soldier's face, catching Duo off guard. 

"I guess so." Heero shrugged. "Still married?"

"Fourteen years!" Duo said happily. "We didn't get married for almost a year after--" But he stopped. "It's great anyway. Daye and me are still pretty young."

"Good for you." 

"And you?" Duo asked, with one eyebrow arched. "Did you and Relena ever…?"

"I know that you know the answer to that." Heero said coldly. Duo's smile vanished. "You have a daughter." He said in an accusing voice.

"Big deal?" Duo hissed. "So I have a fifteen-year-old daughter."

"What's up with her and that nickname?"

"What nickname?" Duo asked.

"The Demoness." Heero said. Duo smiled again.

"She kept it after all!" Duo said cheerily." After training I figured she'd kept the one her friends had called her. I didn't figure she'd keep the one me and Daye gave her."

"And what was that?" 

"Some Japanese thing-- Satsujinsha, I think it meant Killer or Murderer."

"What's up with the secrecy?" 

"And _you?_ Aseka told me you have a son who can barely pilot the Wing Zero. You weren't exactly all open and sharing about that, you know."

"What do you mean, 'can barely pilot the Wing Zero'? Kien did fine!" Heero hissed.

"Aseka finished his mission for him within fifteen minutes." Duo bragged. 

"Aseka?"

"Yeah, that's right. Aseka Dua Maxwell. Pilot of DeathsWings. She chose the name herself."

"You built a new Gundam?"

"We live in outer space, Heero. There's an endless supply of gundanium alloy out here. Daye and me designed her a twin of the Deathscythe."

"So I've heard-- wait, if she has her own mobile suit, what did you do with the Deathscythe?" Heero questioned. Duo blinked, having forgotten. 

"It's under repairs at the moment, but the second it's finished it goes to Jay--"

"And who's Jay?" Heero snapped, now irritated. Duo grinned.

"My son." He said. He saw Heero's jaw drop. "Jay Trio Maxwell; Aseka's brother. They were born on the same day, seven months before me and Daye got married. I never realized it before, Heero, but Aseka acts like you did. At least on the battlefield."

"Is that an insult?" Heero said threateningly. Duo laughed.

"Depends on how you take it." He laughed. "I have to go, Heero, maybe your kid will do what you never did-- you know-- kill the Maxwell pilot."

____

Anthony drove through the desert roads in silence. The only thing to be heard was the grind of the truck carrier's huge wheels against the sand. His green eyes darted from sand dune to sand dune, and occasionally he tried to move his hair from his face. No matter what he did, the black "unibang" always fell back into place over his left eye. It was genetic or something, 'cause his dad had the same problem.

He looked up toward the sky, and saw a trail of black smoke against the sky, seemingly heading right at him. Anthony halted the truck automatically, and hopped out to see what it was. The smoking thing was a shuttle, which crashed with an enormous _thud_ against the sand. Anthony flinched, and began running toward the fiery mess. The shuttle was still intact, however, and Anthony wanted to see it their were any survivors. 

The shuttle's door opened and someone in a space suit leapt out. The person wrenched off their helmet and threw it to the ground, swearing casually. Casually enough for him screaming at the top of his lungs. The boy was about Anthony's height and age, with sand-yellow hair and a short chain with an ebony cross charm. 

"That's some colorful language you're using there, kid, I've never heard of most of it." Anthony shrugged.

The boy looked at Anthony with his electric green eyes open wide in surprise.

"Who the heck are you?" The boy snapped. Anthony laughed.

"Anthony Barton. Do you have a name or should you just be the kid with the dirty mouth?"

The boy cracked a smile. "Jay Maxwell. Sorry about the swearing…I just kinda picked most of it up from my dad…"

Anthony shrugged again and walked up to the shuttle and peeked inside. He heard Jay squeak. 

"What do you have in here? Mobile suits or something? Aren't you a little young--?"

Anthony heard the click of a gun behind him. He turned around and the friendly Jay Maxwell was pointing a gun at him.

"You never saw me here." Jay said. "You really shouldn't have looked into the cargo hold, you _really _shouldn't have."

Anthony put his arms up, keeping a stoic face. Was the kid a fellow Gundam pilot? What a coincidence. 

"It's a mobile suit, isn't it?" Anthony asked. Jay bared his teeth and flinched. 

"Listen, Tony, I don't really want to do this, but you made it this way, if you hadn't found the Deathscythe I could have let you live--"

"You're _Duo_ Maxwell's son?" Anthony asked. Jay flinched again.

"How would you--"

"I guess I should have been able to figure it out, but you don't look a thing like your dad, so I just assumed you weren't related…"

"Why is it you know about me but I don't know about you?"

"I'm Trowa Barton's son." Anthony said, still calm. Jay's eyebrows shot up.

"The HeavyArms pilot?" Jay shrieked. Was he about to kill an ally? Ack! 

"I am now." Anthony shrugged. "HeavyArms is right over that dune. You can see for yourself." 

Jay scratched his head, eyes wide. Then he smiled and let the gun drop. 

"Don't worry about it, Tony, I believe you. I mean really, I've seen pictures of your dad-- and, _man_, Tony, all you need is a little hair dye to pass for him! I don't look much like my dad, I actually look more like my mom-- who was an _awesome_ fighter when she was my age-- and my sister looks like my dad, heck, she even grew her hair out to look even more like him--"

Every story Anthony had heard about Duo from his dad had described Duo's never-ending conversations. Apparently, Jay had gotten the Maxwell tongue instead of the Maxwell looks. Anthony rolled his eyes when Jay started talking about his older sister, on which he failed to mention her name.

Anthony was beginning to get a headache.

"Jay--" Anthony sighed, shaking his head. "Can we talk about this another time? --I think I'm gonna need some aspirin to prepare for it."

Jay shut up for a moment and blinked with uncertainty with a puzzled expression on his face. Then he smiled again and tilted his head.

"Sure thing, Tony. I gotta mobile suit carrier in my cargo hold, ya think I could hook it up with yours and we could travel together? I'm on my way to the Sanq Kingdom to meet up with my sis, where are you headed? If not the Sanq Kingdom I'll travel alone-- I'm just saying it would be cool if we traveled together."

"I'm going no where in particular. Why not?" Anthony shrugged. This could be a long trip.

____

"Are you all right, Miss Lela?" The Maguanac soldier asked her. She turned to him with a startled expression. 

"Oh-- yeah, I'm just fine, I was only thinking." The young girl said sweetly. The Maguanac smiled and walked away. Lela sighed and stared up again at Sandrock. _Never, _she thought fiercely. _I can't. No matter what Dad says. I won't go against my beliefs. Pacifism is the only way to lead a good life…_

But was that the right choice? Even at once, her father had believed the same…and had followed family pacifist traditions. But in the end…he had fought. Would the same happen to her? Would she…could she…should she? _No!_ Her mind screamed. But Sandrock seemed to be calling her, beckoning her to venture into the cockpit and become a killer of the innocent. She could never do that.

What was it that her dad had told her once? Something that a friend had told him, "It will be your child correcting your mistake"? Was it already foreseen that she, Lela Dorea Winner, would correct the mistake her father had made so long ago? Lela knew what had happened, her father had told her, had been honest with her, telling her about letting someone who should have died long ago live, and how this person had, just a few years after Lela's birth, began a second Oz to again separate the Colonies from the Earth.

It would be a long war.

Maybe she could help, however. She knew that there were new Gundam pilots. She only knew of three of them, their parents had been close friends of her dads', but she had never met them. Aseka, Jay, and Anthony. She sighed. She had no clue of how to help but fight. And Lela would never do that. Especially not to fight the person she was given her middle name after.

Dorothy to Dorea.

____

"Oy!" Aseka screamed. "Where the heck is Jay? I…need… BACKUP!" 

The scythe sliced through a set of Scorpio. Nasty yellow mobile dolls. And those beam rifles that rose up from behind them could pack quite a wallop against DeathsWings. "AGGHH!" She screamed. 

Her window monitor was on, and with one eye, she warily watched the news report on the new Gundams. She giggled when they read off the pilot's names. Oz thought the original pilots still fought. 

"Heero Yuy, Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Raberba Winner, and Chang Wufei. A white Gundam identical to the Gundam known as 02 has replaced the Gundam originally known as 05. Unfortunately, this new Gundam surpasses the strength of the data recorded 23 years ago…"

"Oh please--" Aseka groaned. She turned it off. "DeathsWings isn't _that_ strong, are ya, DeathsWings? Course not! You're stronger!"

Fits of hysterical laughter filled the dark cockpit. She'd been fighting for two weeks, and having most fun doing it. But no word from her brother. At the very thought, a picture window opened up on her screen. The friendly face of her brother filled the window.

"Hey, Satsujinsha, what's up?"

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" Aseka snapped playfully. "It's Demoness, remember?"

"As I prefer Demon. But I at least let people call me Koroshiya." Jay shrugged. "I want ya to meet someone."

Another picture window opened up on her monitor. A serious boy with a strange amount of hair covering the left of his face stared at her. 

"And this is…?" Aseka said rudely. Jay smiled again.

"Anthony Barton. He pilots HeavyArms. I met him in the desert when I got to Earth."

The boy waved slightly, and she nodded in response. The boys joined her in her fight. About an hour passed before Aseka noticed the troops fall back.

"Wait!" She shouted, before anyone wasted ammunition. The boys paused, cautious. The mobile dolls had stopped fighting. They seemed to be waiting for orders.

"Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, and this new pilot, whoever you are, surrender, or 05 will be destroyed." A woman's voice taunted their Comm. Links. Aseka looked around frantically, wondering what they meant. Something grabbed the arms of DeathsWings.

"What the--" She screamed. DeathsWings couldn't move, and suddenly Scorpio and Gemini surrounded her. The Deathscythe and HeavyArms didn't move, in fear of the mobile dolls. Aseka saw a woman's face over her monitor. The woman couldn't see her, but it seemed to be that way. Her dead light blue eyes seemed to stare Aseka down.

"Dorothy Catalonia." Aseka said icily.

"Surrender!" Dorothy shouted. "Surrender and I can save your lives…for a time…if you resist, the mobile dolls will finish you off."

Aseka shut her eyes. Either way, her fate was death. She refused to cry, or even let out a sob. She could feel Jay's terror. Everything they had been taught to do was repeating in his mind, but she was his sister. 

Soldier and brother-- that's what he was. But the time had come to choose between them, be soldier, or be brother. Everyone figured that his first thought would be brother, but he and Aseka had been trained since childhood the importance of secrecy. The importance of staying hidden.

And in the end, it wouldn't matter.

"My only regret is--" She said, in a private link with Jay, "is that I didn't get to fight for longer." Her voice was stilled and cold. She could hear the sound he made.

"WHAT?" He screamed after all was clear to him.

"It's up to you, Koroshiya. Demon. Brother. Jay. Tell Dad it was the last option. All for one and one for all, bro."

She cut the transmission. 

She stood up and opened the cockpit doors. Let Oz see that she was no boy and not some old guy too big for the cockpit. She could heard Dorothy make a noise through the Comm. Link. Aseka lifted up a picture she had of her family. She dropped it, and it drifted fifty feet to the ground. "I love you, Mom, Dad, Jay. And I'm sorry."

____

Lela approached the battleground on a motorcycle. Something was going down. Something big. Someone was standing outside of the cockpit of the 05 Gundam. A girl with waist-length brown hair. Lela stared at the…er…_unusual_ garb the girl wore. 

Skin-tight black leather tank top and short green skirt. The girl had a headband on her forehead that nearly covered her entire forehead. The girl let something drop, and then pressed something. Parts of 05 began glowing. 

"No…" Lela breathed. "She can't!" Lela hunched into the ground, prepared for the blast. It came much too suddenly for the gentle girl. 

She felt a flare of heat on her back from a blast that wiped away almost fifty mobile dolls. The two other Gundams that had been standing to the side hesitated, but then suddenly took off. Lela cursed them under her breath for not saving the girl. Lela sat up. The danger was over. The battle had been lost. Lela wandered into the blackened field.

A tear dripped from her face as she examined the wreckage of 05. It could be rebuilt…maybe… 

"Why? Why did this war have to happen?" Lela whispered harshly. She looked down when her foot hit something. What was she standing in? Was it--?

"Blood!" She screamed and leaped from it. A noise came from deep in her throat. She looked down again, and tried to keep her stomach intact.

The dead girl was laying face down onto the dirt. One arm rested next to her, and the other one reached out over her head. The back of the girls' leather tank top was hopelessly shredded, and deep gashes streaked along her back. Her legs were bloody, from several long scrapes she had on the calves. The girl had a bit of metal jutting from her side.

Then the dead girl groaned.

Lela screamed again. Then she kneeled to the girl. The girl gained consciousness slowly, and turned her head to Lela. The girl blinked blood out of her eyes and whimpered. The girl's eye's closed again. Lela searched for a pulse and found one.

Maybe there was a chance to save the girl.

Lela would take that chance.

____

__

Is this death? I thought it would be quieter…and I thought I wouldn't be able to feel my injury… Or…am I alive?

Aseka blinked, desperately wanting her vision to come back into focus. The beeping noise she'd been hearing was a heart monitor.

"Where--?" Aseka breathed. She looked around, and saw she was in a comfortable and well-lit room. She could feel something wrong with her back, so she decided she wouldn't move too much. Her legs hurt, too.

It wasn't a hospital, but it was somewhere nice. A door on the right opened up and a man entered. He was carrying a blanket and a glass of water. He looked astonished to see her awake. He was blond, a clear, almost white blond, and his eyes were a mix of sea green and sky blue. He was about her father's age. He seemed familiar. 

"Aseka!" He marveled. "I wasn't sure you'd wake up!"

"Who are you?" Aseka shouted fearfully. The man smiled apologetically. 

"Quatre Raberba Winner." He said. "Last time I saw you, you were only a day old. In fact-- you and your brother were born in this house."

Aseka kept her emotions under control, as she was taught to do. 

"What happened?" She asked.

"My daughter, Lela, saved you when you self-detonated." Quatre said solemnly.

"Ah." She mumbled. "I see."

"She'll be in here in a minute. I'll tell her you're okay."

"Thank you for helping me, Mr. Winner." Aseka said properly. Quatre blinked at her before laughing and leaving the room. The door opened again only moments later and a young girl Aseka's age came in.

"You're awake!" The girl said happily. "I'm Lela Dorea Winner. Your name is Aseka Maxwell-- right?"

"Correct."

Lela laughed for a second. "You talk like a textbook." She giggled.

"Only when meeting someone for the first time." Aseka muttered. An image clouded her mind. _Sandrock…the girl will pilot Sandrock…we will be allies…we will be friends…she will correct the mistake…_

Aseka liked Lela's attitude. She smiled at the other girl, but not right away a good smile. Aseka first had to figure out how to convince Lela to pilot Sandrock. Then-- they could be friends. War always comes first.

_____

"Your back is almost fixed up." Lela approved. "Dad contacted your parents, but they were too freaked out to say much other than 'Thank God'. They'll probably tell your brother."

"Good." Aseka sighed. She tried sitting up again, but winced and relaxed her back. Lela almost rose from her chair across from Aseka, but saw that Aseka was fine. Aseka managed a weak smile.

"What are you going to do?" Aseka asked weakly. "Just sit around and do nothing?"

"Dad is sending me to the institution in the Sanq Kingdom to represent our nation." Lela said after a quiet moment. "I'll study pacifism there, to help the cause. I know I'm not exactly the princess of our nation, but Dad is one of the most important men in the colonies and Earth…so it was decided to send me."

"Pacifism? Ha." Aseka snorted. Lela eyed her. 

"Can you come with me? Maybe you could learn something." Lela offered. 

"Why not?" Aseka shrugged. "My Gundam was destroyed. I can't fight."

"I'm trying to have it rebuilt." Lela said in a small voice. Aseka stared at her with amazement. "They're taking parts from Sandrock for you."

"I didn't expect this…" Aseka breathed. "You and your father have been far too nice!"

"It was nothing. The Maguanac's haven't worked with a Gundam in years." Lela smiled. "They're happy to help Dad and me." 

"If you say so, Lela." Aseka said wearily. "Our fathers fought for the Sanq Kingdom once. Is it still a safe nation?"

"Dorothy Catalonia contacted Relena Peacecraft before the war, assuring the safety of the nation."

"How decent of her." Aseka said coldly.

"Would you rather a good pacifist nation collapse?" Lela almost rose her voice. "There has to be a sanctuary somewhere, for the injured and those who cannot fight."

"I wasn't commenting on the Sanq Kingdom." Aseka said. "I was referring to Catalonia."

"Ah." Lela nodded. She lifted her head to Aseka once more. "So you will come with me to the Sanq Kingdom?"

"Yes, Lela."

____

"This institution has been open for twenty-three years, and has survived for two wars." Relena said to her class. "The majority of it had to be rebuilt after the first war, but we reopened shortly after. Now, we face another war. Many years ago, I was World Sovereign Leader. I stepped down from my position just months later and never reclaimed it. Now, as a representative of the Earth, I go by two names. Here, in the institution, I am Relena Peacecraft, the princess of this nation and no more, but in space, I am Vice Foreign Minister Dorlan."

"Queen of the World?" A student asked. Relena nodded, with a small smile on her face.

"Not for very long." She said quietly. "But I will always remain leader of my nation, for my elder brother thought himself unworthy to hold the Peacecraft rule." _And some day, I hope to pass it to my son, _she thought. She eyed the boy, sitting quietly in the second row, with a faint smile on his face. _He only sits through my classes because I'm his mother. Not because these are his beliefs. _

Was he laughing at her ideals? Or was he proud of them? That smile gave nothing away. She returned the smiled briefly. He was his mother and father, blended beautifully into the handsome boy before her. His hair was lighter than his fathers, eyes the same, but his face was never cold…_ No,_ she thought._ Those days are gone. _

"Class dismissed." Relena said quietly. She was deep in thought. When she looked up, she saw none of her students had left. They all stared at the door.

She looked up. Two girls stood in the doorway. One was wearing her school uniform, but the other was wearing black leather boots and shirt, along with a short green skirt. The girl seemed at ease, though; she didn't seem to be showing off. She eyed the class with violet eyes that seemed familiar to Relena. The other girl was smiling pleasantly, with her hands clasped together in front of her. In a sense, the little girl was familiar as well. Very pale blond hair, and bright blue eyes. The gentle smile, Relena immediately recognized.

"Miss Winner?" Relena asked. The blond girl looked at her directly. She curtsied.

"Lela Dorea Winner, Miss Relena. I'm sorry I'm late. I hope to attend your next lesson with no problems."

"Winner?" Some of the girls in the class chorused. 

"It's all right, Lela." Relena said. She stood and walked to Lela, looking the girl over. "You're Quatre's daughter? I could tell right away. Amazing! I'm very happy to meet you. Your father attended my school briefly."

Relena turned to the other girl. The girl didn't curtsy, but gave a smile and offered a handshake. Relena shook it.

"And you are?" She asked.

"Aseka Dua Maxwell." Aseka said. At first, the names seemed to have no effect on Relena. Then she noticed the waist-length chestnut hair, the cross at her neck, and the bright violet eyes. She nearly lost her composure and screamed, _Duo has a daughter?_

"You're--" Relena started.

" Duo Maxwell's daughter. " Aseka said firmly. "I have a brother, too. He should be here in a few days."

"Brother? Oh, my…" Relena turned slightly white. She turned to her son, and saw him staring at Aseka with wide eyes open with shock. Aseka noticed, as well, and lifted her eyebrows in shock. No expression flickered on her face other than that. "Will you attend my school?"

"If it is no trouble." Aseka mumbled, her head bowed. "I will not be here long."

"Aseka!" Lela said with surprise. "I thought you said--"

"I am not a pacifist, Lela. This is not my place." Aseka said without looking at her. Relena arched an eyebrow.

"Then, uh, lets get you into uniform." 

____

It was the girl. The rude one who piloted DeathsWings. And the one who called herself a Demoness. Now Kien was seeing her again, and in by far the _weirdest_ place to see her. In his school! At first he didn't recognize her. She looked like some girl way too underdressed for the school and that was it. Then he saw her face. The violet eyes were the same, and so was the headband on her forehead.

But all he could do was stare as she walked into one of his mother's classes. After his mother had ushered both of the girls into the hall, the rest of his class finally moved out. Kien waited until all the girls had left. It was slightly embarrassing, him being the only boy in the school, but he wasn't technically a student. Kien was a fighter.

He waited for his mother to come back. But when she didn't come back, he went off to find her. He wandered outside and into the grounds. A few girls wandered around, flipping through their schoolbooks and talking to one another. One girl caught his eye. The "Demoness" sat on a bench, with her legs crossed and her arms folded over her chest. Her violet eyes darted from the girls to the flowers, and finally they rested on him. She rolled her eyes and began staring at her knees.

Now in school uniform, the girl looked slightly more dignified, but the red headband remained, and she'd braided her hair. The bangs that the girl had brushed to the side earlier now hid the headband slightly, and fell into her eyes. He walked over and sat down next to her. She looked away. 

"What's your real name?" He asked. She didn't respond.

"It's none of your business." She said coldly. An expression of discomfort crossed her face and she groaned.

"What?" He asked.

"I injured myself some time ago." She muttered icily. 

"Are you all right?"

She stood up and faced him. "I'm _fine_." She snapped. "Why are you even bothering to talk to me?"

"Can you please tell me your name?" He said. "If you're gonna be a jerk, you can tell me why." He leaned against the back of the bench and stared at the clouds. Her anger dissolved momentarily. 

"If you're that desperate…" She growled. "My name is Aseka, all right? Aseka Dua Maxwell. Happy?"

"Cool your jets." He said lazily. "Don't you care that we both pilot Gundams?"

"Not in the slightest." She mused. "You go your way-- I go mine. There's nothing more to it. And anyway-- my Gundam was destroyed. I'm not a pilot anymore. It's gonna be rebuilt, but not for a while."

"Is that how you got hurt?"

She muttered something incoherent in response before nodding. It sounded a lot like swearing to Kien. "I'm not going to be here long, so you can stop it with the friendly act."

"Okay then." He shrugged. It appeared that his politeness was getting on her nerves worse than him being rude would have. What fun!

Maybe he could pester her into saying a bit more than three sentences. What fun!

____

Lela smiled again.

"What now?" Aseka asked. Her rude edge never effected sweet little Lela, so it dispersed whenever talking with Lela.

"Your brother is on his way here with your family." 

__

"What?" Aseka screamed. 

"Calm down!" Lela shrieked. "Dad contacted your parents long ago, and they're on their way here now because you're healed."

"When will they be here?" Aseka said, still close to hyperventilating. She grabbed Lela's collar.

"Today, maybe tomorrow." Lela stuttered. Aseka released Lela's collar and Lela fell to the floor in shock.

"Sorry." Aseka said distractedly.

"'S all right…" Lela murmured. Aseka went into her own section of their dorm room and got out of her school uniform and back into her "comfortable" black leather and green outfit. Lela walked in as Aseka pulled on the other knee length black boot. Aseka checked her ivory cross and placed it straight.

"You normally wear that to greet your family?" Lela questioned in confusion. Aseka looked up at her oddly.

"My parents bought this for me." She said slowly.

"Ah…"

Aseka stood up, walked to the mirror and took her hair out of the braid and brushed her bangs back to their place on the sides of her face. Aseka straightened the headband and seemed to examine it carefully.

"What?" Lela asked.

"Nothing," Aseka said distractedly. She straightened the band a final time and stepped away from the mirror slowly.

"You look fine." Lela assured her friend. "You can't even see the scars on your back."

"They're that far down?" Aseka mumbled. "Pain goes up all into my shoulders."

"You hurt a lot of muscle. That's why."

"Oh." Aseka nodded.

"What's your brother like?"

"My dad." Aseka giggled. "We're pretty different, from the way we look to the way we act, but we're real close. Jay is really nice, and really loud."

"Loud?"

"Don't ask him a question that requires more than a one-word response." Aseka warned her. "But even then, you might get a big answer."

"Uh…thanks?" Lela mumbled. "I think--"

"I'm going to go outside."

"Why? They might not come till tomorrow."

"They're already here." Aseka said quietly. "I have a habit of knowing things like this." 

Aseka walked out the door. Lela tilted her head and looked out the window. A car pulled up to the mountain of stairs leading to the institution. Three people stepped out. It was too far to see, but Lela made a surprised sound and got out of her uniform to meet Aseka's family.

____

"I made her promise me!" Duo kept repeating. Daye shook her head wearily.

"She's a rock. Her training was tough, Duo. She'll do what her battle-brain tells her to."

"But--" He tried.

"Dad!" Jay shouted from the back seat. "She's okay! Cool it!"

"Thank you, Jay." Daye mumbled. Duo had silenced for a moment, staring at the road ahead. The car stopped and they got out, staring at the institution. 

"A pacifist institution?" Jay muttered. Then he leaned over, and nearly hit the floor laughing. "Aseka in a pacifism school! Ha!"

"Jay--"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Shut up, Jay." She said, rolling her eyes. He sighed and dusted himself off. He stood up and rejoined his parents, staring up at the stairs.

"So" Jay said slowly. "They expect us to walk that?"

"Uh…I guess." Duo mumbled. "No! She's walking over here!"

Jay brightened up at the sight of his sister.

"Now we don't have to walk!" Jay said brightly. Duo jabbed him in the ribs. 

"Jay!" He shrieked. The breath was knocked out of him a second later by his daughter leaping into him, hugging him. His attention returned to Aseka.

"Dad!" She screamed joyfully…right in his ear. He winced but smiled anyway.

"Aseka!" He breathed, and relief washed all over him. Her mother pulled her off, and at first Aseka hugged her mother for an equal time happily, then--

"Mom!" Aseka gasped. "I need air! Mom!"

"I'm sorry, Aseka…" Daye sobbed, letting her go. Aseka took a step back, breathing hard, and then Jay jumped up from behind her and grabbed her shoulders.

_"AHHHHHH!"_ Aseka screamed. Jay leaped back. Duo and Daye took a step back, totally in shock. Aseka shrank to the ground and let a whimper escape her lips.

"Aseka?" Jay mumbled.

"It's okay, Jay… I'm fine…" She breathed uneasily. "It's good to see you, Jay."

"What's wrong?" Duo asked frantically.

"My shoulders…I landed on my back when I…self-detonated." She said softly.

"I'm sorry!" Jay said quickly, in a panicked voice.

"Don't get all mushy with me, Jay." She said laughingly. She stood up again and leaned into her mother. "Just don't ever do it again. Do you comprehend?"

"Yes." Jay said in a voice that sounded like a salute. Aseka looked at her brother again, her eyes grateful to look upon his face again. She was happy to see the light red baggy shirt he always wore with the large maroon colored chicken-scratch cross with wings on it, and the annoying baggy jeans their mom constantly complained about. And the cross at his neck. It matched the one at hers. Ebony and ivory, gold and silver, demon and demoness, brother and sister.

"Your family, I presume?" A voice said from behind them. Aseka turned around to see Lela out of uniform, in a V-neck pink long-sleeved blouse and a khaki knee-length pleated skirt. She wasn't the one who had spoken, however. Lela looked unhappy, and behind her were Miss Relena, Heero, and Kien. Aseka narrowed her eyes at Kien. Lela mouthed to her, _I'm sorry_, and Aseka nodded.

Aseka could see Duo tense up, and so did her mother. Jay walked over to Aseka and stood close.

"Heero!" Duo said brightly. Aseka knew he wasn't as cheerful as he sounded. He was actually mad. But pretending to be happy was no problem for Duo or his son. "It's been a while since we've been face-to-face, eh? I mean a _really_ long time! What were we-- twenty?"

"I guess so." Heero said in a cold monotone. He turned to Daye and arched an eyebrow. "I haven't seen you in even longer." He said.

"We only met once." Daye said tauntingly. "I believe it was you trying to convince Duo to kill me that time?"

Aseka and Jay gaped.

"You were a nutcase." Heero shrugged. "I see it didn't last too long?"

"A few days." She said. "Apparently it didn't last long, if I was sane enough to marry my assassin and have his children."

"Daye," Duo started. 

"Duo," Daye protested.

"Daye!"

"Duo!"

"Daye!"

"Duo!"

"Mom!" Jay shouted.

"Dad!" Aseka shouted.

"Shut up!" Their kids shouted at their bickering parents. Duo and Daye blinked at their children before nodding and facing Heero and his family again.

Heero had his eyes open and bugged out, Relena was staring, and Kien wouldn't take his eyes off Aseka. If he talked to his dad like that he'd probably get beaten or something. Better not risk it. Aseka caught him staring, and sneering at him cured him of his staring spell. 

"And your problem is--?" Duo asked rudely. Heero snapped out of it.

"Nothing." He snapped. 

"We won't be here long. We have to get back to the Colony. We want to know if Jay can stay here until DeathsWings is out of repair and he can rejoin Aseka fighting."

"Yes." Relena said nicely. Heero stared at her. "Why not?" She asked. He said nothing.

"Why do you have to get back to the Colony so fast?" Heero asked.

"Business matters, Heero." 

"You run a salvage yard."

"Its not _just_ a salvage yard anymore, Mister know-it-all!" Daye chided. "It's a good business for the needy-- which of course, you are not." She said the last line filled with coldness, eyeing the institution.

"So-- you're both leaving today?" Aseka asked sadly.

"We just needed to see you, Aseka." Daye said sadly to her daughter. 

"I'm all right," Aseka said. "I'm just a little surprised."

"Don't worry about it Aseka. You'll be home soon. You have the blood of the two best fighters in the word running in your veins. You too, Jay." Duo said proudly. "With you two fighting, the war will be over real soon."

"Thanks, Dad." They both said gratefully. Aseka sensed that behind the words, Duo was still filled with worry, but he still had faith. _Believe in yourself. I've seen the future once before, and we're alive, Jay…we live through this battle…win or lose…_ Aseka thought positively. _WIN! We are the Maxwell twins! We will WIN! We will defeat Dorothy Catalonia and her army, with or without Kien, Anthony, or Lela. _

"Wait." Heero said. Duo looked up at him again. Heero walked down and meet Duo's eyes. "How did Aseka and Jay get trained so well so fast? We didn't know about the war until it was upon us. Kien could only get last-minute training from me."

Daye stood up and put her hand on Jay's shoulder and looked at Heero defiantly. 

"They've been trained since they were children. They are both expert pilots." She said proudly. Heero growled at her and stepped forward to her, resisting the urge to scream.

"You _knew_?"

"That what? That there'd be a war? Yes. I've known for years. Is that the answer you wanted, Mr. Yuy?" Daye sneered.

"And you didn't warn us?" Heero almost screamed. "We could have hit Dorothy head-on and have beaten her already! But you only thought about training your own kids?"

"Would you even _consider_ putting your own flesh and blood through that experience?" Daye shrieked. "We did it to ours because I knew it would be accepted by them. I thought that maybe the other four of you would want your children to live some nice, peaceful lives for as long as they could."

"Mom--" Aseka whispered.

"Yes?"

"How could you tell about that sort of thing?" She whispered hoarsely. Daye's face faltered.

"I was psychic long ago. It faded away…but you have it. Not quite like mine was, but you have it."

"I know I have it." Aseka continued. "But why didn't you tell me that you'd had it?"

"I thought you'd be angry that I couldn't prevent…well," Daye said slowly, gesturing toward Aseka's forehead. Aseka made a motion and Daye silenced. Jay stared at his shoes, quite pale.

Heero's family and Lela wondered why.

"I saw it coming, Mom. It was no problem. Well-- it _did_ take me six months to recover--" She said laughingly. 

"We should go now, guys," Duo said after a moment. "We'll see you when the stupid war ends, right, kids?" 

"We ain't gonna let some stupid war keep us away from our family." Jay said loudly. Jay gave his mother and father a final hug and Aseka followed. Duo waved to Heero and Relena before he and Daye got back into their car and drove away. Jay sighed and Aseka draped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a shake as comfort. 

"You K, Koroshiya?" She said gently. He nodded. They turned around and saw that Heero and Relena had gone inside. All that remained was Lela and Kien. All their eyes darted from one to the other, examining the differences, and any likeness they could find between them. Between the four, there were none. Cobalt eyes darted to violet; violet darted to almost aqua, and aqua to electric green. These eyes examined each other's hair next. From rich yellow to almost white, and from chestnut brown to a dark blond. No matches.

But they all found a likeness, after much staring. But this likeness could not be found with their eyes, but with their origin. All of them had been born on the Earth. Kien was slightly European and Japanese, Lela was Arabian, and Aseka and Jay were American blooded. 

"Maybe we should go in for lunch." Jay suggested. They all looked at him. Jay scratched at his head nervously, and stared at the dirt. "It was only a suggestion." He said sheepishly. 

"It's a good idea, Jay." Aseka nodded. "We should have a talk. A _long_ talk." 

____

Kien stumbled into his room late at night, later that month. He was exhausted from the battle, but at least he'd completed his mission. If he could be grateful for one thing, it was that Aseka's Gundam wasn't complete yet so she couldn't show him up. He was also lucky that Jay had been busy with another mission and hadn't accompanied him, and that Lela had no Gundam with her, and if she had, she wouldn't have used it.

Sleep-- that's what he needed. He almost collapsed onto his bed when the door creaked open. 

"Who is it?" He asked softly, almost too tired to care. No response. "Oh--" He said, acknowledging who it was. "Dad."

He heard his dad chuckle. 

"Am I that quiet?" Heero muttered, amused. 

"Only when you've got something on your mind. Which is most of the time, now days."

"Oh." Heero said quietly.

Kien hadn't meant to make his dad uncomfortable, because in truth, before the war, Heero had been a very good father. "Wars affect him very seriously." His mother had warned him. And so they did. Kien saw changes, and they made Kien nervous around Heero all the time. It will pass when the war is over, he always reminded himself. 

"Did you want something?" Kien asked, kicking off his shoes and sitting down on his bed. Heero leaned against the doorframe. 

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"Mission accomplished." Kien said with exhaustion wracking his voice. "I'm happy Aseka wasn't there. She thinks I can't fight worth a crap."

Kien felt a burn of shame as Heero found something funny in this and burst into a fit of laughter.

"Don't feel so bad about it. She had a lot of training as a little kid. You didn't. It's not your fault. I considered it, but Daye was right, and your mother wouldn't let me."

"I guess." Kien said coldly.

"That's why I'm here." Heero said, changing his tone. "I have something that might help you."

"With my fighting abilities? I doubt that." Kien laughed. 

"I used to use it when I fought. Took me a little bit to master it." Heero said.

"What is it?" Kien asked, now interested. Heero put his hand up and showed him a set of disks. 

"It's called the ZERO system."

____

"Quatre told me your Gundam is almost finished." Duo said to Aseka over the transmitter monitor. She smiled gratefully and sighed happily. "How's Jay?"

"He's not taking classes very well." Aseka said in a disappointed voice. "He and Kien are the only boys in the school. Jay can take _that_ pretty well, but the whole pacifist thing--" 

"You're telling _me_." Duo rolled his eyes at the word. "Total pacifism has been Relena's dream since she was your age. And what happened? Two wars-- even under her pacifist rule."

"Let me speak to her!" Aseka could hear her mom complaining. Aseka giggled as she saw her father attempt to push Daye away.

"C'mon Daye! I'm still talking with her!"

"Hi Mom!" Aseka giggled, knowing her mother wouldn't win. 

"Remind me why I married you again, Duo?" Daye asked teasingly. 

"Because you wuv me!" Duo teased, giving Daye a puppy-eyed look. 

"Naw, I think it was because--"

"Daye!" Duo shrieked frantically. Aseka stared bug-eyed at Duo for a moment as she listened to Daye laugh maniacally. Duo returned his attention to Aseka, giving her a sheepish look. He smiled nervously. "So-- what's been going on?"

"As soon as DeathsWings is back with me, Kien wants to hold a test with all three to try out something his father gave him." And she didn't like the look her father seemed to glaze his face over with. 

"Did he tell you what it was?" Duo asked hoarsely. 

"No." Aseka shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"Heero had something once before that he handled really well, but I tried it, and I almost went nuts."

"What was it?" 

"Duo--" Her mother called from somewhere else in the house. 

"Yeah?" Duo asked. Aseka waited for a moment. 

"Hilde's coming over for dinner, right?" Daye shouted. 

"Yeah-- her and her husband." Duo said. He turned again to Aseka. "Gotta go, hon. I'll see ya soon."

The transmission ended, and Aseka was left with a question that should have been answered.

____

"He-he." Aseka giggled. She ran her fingers over the controls of DeathsWings cockpit. "You're back, my Wings." She crooned to her suit. No spoken words were heard in response, yet Aseka seemed to hear DeathsWings respond. "I never should have self-detonated. But I really helped a bit there, didn't I? Our sacrifice made a difference. Not a big one, but a difference."

"So I'm not the only one." She heard someone say in an amused voice. She looked up to Kien, who was peeking into DeathsWings's cockpit. 

"The only one what?" Aseka asked, her cheeks burning.

"Who talks to my Gundam." Kien laughed. "I thought I was nuts."

"Jay does it, too." Aseka shrugged. "I've heard him have some interesting conversations with the Deathscythe."

"Is he on one side or both?" Kien asked, with one eyebrow arched.

"Both, most of the time." Aseka giggled. Kien smiled at her, and Aseka stopped.

_What just happened here?_ She thought. _Why did he smile like that? _

"You ready?" He asked. 

"What?" Aseka said distractedly, waking from her thoughts. 

"Test flight." He informed her. Aseka nodded.

"I already got the hang of her again." She said happily. 

"Good. 'Cause if Dad is right, my fighting abilities should increase a lot." 

"That will hardly make a difference." Aseka muttered rudely, staring at the ceiling of the cockpit. She didn't see Kien's face, but heard the sound he made as he swung down from her cockpit and reached the ground.

He waved to her from the ground and raced to Wing Zero. Aseka found herself almost waving back, even if he couldn't see her. She caught herself just in time. _What is with me today? _Her mind shrieked. She watched him board Wing Zero and the Deathscythe came up closer to them. Aseka took a final look around the area before closing the cockpit doors. It was clear. No one around for miles, except for Lela, who was a fair distance away, watching with interest.

"Let's get ready to rumble!" Jay shouted. Aseka lowered her head and allowed her head for battle to take over. 

____

__

Why do I care so much if she hates me or not? I just don't want her to hate me-- that's all! Kien thought sadly. _Just because I can't fight like she can doesn't mean a thing. _

Jay shouted something, and Kien inserted the last disk Heero had given him into the main computer. He typed the command into the switchboard.

Z E R O

His mind reeled instantly. Ah! Aseka was coming straight for him! Need to use…ack! He'd forgotten! Mom had forbidden the use of the buster rifle!

He fired the Vulcan gun at DeathsWings. Aseka backup up for a moment. The monitor went out of focus for a moment. He shook his head wildly. What was going on? His eyes lit up at the sight of his smaller beam cannon. _Use this! Use this!_ His mind screamed. He brought it out and fired. The Deathscythe was attacking him by now.

Two Gundams attacking one? It didn't seem fair, but his mind didn't notice. Twin double-beamed scythes hit Wing Zero's shoulder. Kien felt his arms go limp for a moment, and his vision slack off. He shook his head, and everything seemed to go in slow motion. _Beam Cannon! Beam Cannon!_ He fired again and again and again. 

The beam hit DeathsWings and tore through it. Aseka was dead.

__

NOOOO! Kien screamed with his voice as loudly as he did in his mind. No! Kien looked again. DeathsWings was fine, and was still working on him with her scythe. Where was the Deathscythe? 

Behind him! 

He turned around and hit the Deathscythe with the Vulcan gun. The Deathscythe…what was it doing? Latching onto the Wing Zero from behind? Ah…Kien could see how easily he could destroy the Deathscythe… No! The Deathscythe is on his side! Allies! Not enemies! This is a test flight! Not a real battle! …Or was it? 

The Deathscythe self-detonated, destroying them both.

"AHH!" Kien screamed. But-- no. What was this? An illusion? His fears? Or was it happening as he fought? _Was he even conscious? _

Again, DeathsWings pounded on him with its scythe. That was it! He couldn't take it anymore! The beam cannon fired again, hitting both his targets directly.

_No! No! No! _The cockpit doors opened without the command to do so. Kien realized that none of the three suits were moving anymore. His eyes drifted to the limp mobile suits disinterestedly. Someone unbuckled him from his seat. He fell forward, knocking them both from the cockpit and falling all the way to the ground, landing with a _thud._

____

Darkness. Was he in his room? Asleep? Ah yes, it was all a dream. A very bad dream. Maybe he should cancel the test flight… Kien tried to roll over, and was met by a lot of pain. He winced. Then…it wasn't a dream! Aw man! Kien sat up, trying to ignore the shooting pains through his back and neck. 

Where was he? It wasn't his room-- his room had a large window. Then he remembered, he was probably in the hospital wing of the institution. He stood up shakily, and took a step forward. He tried to remember what had happened. He put one hand to his aching head, and the other out to grope around for the end of a table or something to find his way out. His hand hit something.

What was it? Oh yeah, there must be another bed in the room he was in. Someone was in it. Was it his mother? Having fallen asleep while watching him? Or was it the faceless person he fell into during the accident? Kien tried to feel for their face. It wasn't his mother-- too small. His hands reached the person's torso and upper chest. He reached something as the person stirred. What on earth was--

_Slap!_ His face was slapped, _hard_. He reeled backwards and hit his own bed, almost falling over the other side. A loud feminine scream filled the room. _Uh oh…_ He thought. The person hit a light switch.

He gulped.

A disheveled and tired-looking Aseka was glaring at him angrily, ready to tear him in half, crossing her arms over her chest protectively.

"You little _freak!_" She spat. "I'm gonna _KILL _you!" She screamed. The door opened and Jay and Lela raced in. Lela stopped Aseka from jumping Kien, but Jay asked her what was going on. "The little pervert touched me!" Aseka screamed. Kien gulped again as Jay produced the same totally ticked-off expression and charged him angrily. A fist hit his face. Kien remembered blood splurging from his nose the second before he passed out. 

____

Kien groaned as he regained consciousness. He opened only one eye, to see if anyone was in the room. No one but Aseka, and she was asleep. He breathed with relief. His nose hurt so badly… He touched it carefully, making himself wince. At least the pain in his back had settled. He briefly wondered how long he'd been unconscious. 

Whoa. Jay Maxwell sure had a great right hook. Kien could hardly blame him-- after all, accident or not, he had done something very inappropriate with the boy's sister. Even though he was alone, he blushed beet-red. Then he stood up to walk around. It wasn't easy at first.

Kien got the hang of it, and walked over to Aseka's sleeping form. Her bed had been moved to the other side of the room. He looked at her. His eyes perked up to see the headband gone. Bandages covered her forehead. Kien remembered Daye pointing to Aseka's forehead, and Aseka nearly freaking out. What was behind that headband? 

He glanced around for assurance once more, and proceeded to undo her bandage. It wasn't very heavy, only wrapped around twice. No bloody wound and no injury met his eye. At least, not a recent one.

Kien gasped.

Aseka had a small cross tattoo on her forehead. That wasn't the real problem. The cross was broken in half by a large white scar etched through the left of her forehead. Kien reached out, and touched the scar gently with his finger. _What happened to her? This is horrible!_

Aseka woke up and grabbed his hand with a loud growl.

"What do you think you're doing?" She shrieked.

"What happened?" Kien asked sympathetically. Aseka gritted her teeth, but her eyes softened. She didn't answer. Her hand shot up to her forehead. Aseka ran her finger over the scar gently.

"It was nothing." She said fiercely. 

"You have a two inch wide, four inch long scar on your forehead. _Something _happened."

"I fell." She said softly, falling back onto her pillow and releasing his hand. She stared up at the ceiling. "From a Leo when I was ten years old."

"Oh." Kien said. 

"I nearly died."

"What about the tattoo?" Kien questioned, glancing at it. Aseka laughed.

"Jay and I both got them when we were real young. Mom and Dad nearly killed us for it. But then I started wearing the headband, and Jay grew his hair over his."

"Where is Jay's?"

"Back of his head, in the nape of his neck."

"Thanks for sharing." Kien mumbled. Aseka laughed again.

"I must be high on sedatives or something. Use this time to talk to me." She advised.

"Should get you some of those sedatives daily," Kien muttered to himself.

"What?" Aseka asked, turning her head to him.

"Nothing!" Kien said, startled. "Was it you who got me out of the Wing Zero?"

Aseka stared at him for a moment. "Yes," She said. "You were getting out of hand, and when we tried to contact you, you started screaming at us."

"I don't remember that." Kien argued.

"Your eyes were all out of focus and your breathing was labored. Then the Wing just stopped, so I went to get you."

"I'm claustrophobic." Kien said quietly. "I guess I'm lucky I didn't throw up or anything."

"So am I." Aseka said gratefully. "I was upset enough with you landing on me from a thirty-foot drop."

"Oh." Kien said, going red. "I didn't mean--"

"Kien, I fell fifty when I was ten. You think I'd get much damage from thirty?"

"Uh-- no?"

"Correct." Aseka nodded. "What was it that made you like that?"

"My dad gave me something called the ZERO system. A cockpit system that immediately calculates battle tactics and strategies, pushing the pilot to his limit, making reaction time almost inhuman." As if he'd practiced. 

"Ah." Aseka said. Kien wondered if she'd understood. "I am beginning to be very tired." She said after a moment. "My head hurts."

"It would." Kien said. "Want your headband back?"

"Yes." She nodded. Kien got up and found it on the table by her bed. He passed it to her. She took it from him gratefully and placed it around her head, pulling her hair over the back of it, and pushing her bangs to the side.

"Get some sleep." Kien suggested. Aseka nodded. "I kinda liked the only conversation we'll probably ever have."

"As have I," She murmured as she shut her eyes and fell back to sleep. Kien sighed and made his way back to his own bed. He glanced at her once more before falling to sleep. _Good night, Demoness._

____

"Mom, where's Aseka and Jay?" Kien asked his mother as the class exited. She looked up at him and turned her head to the side. 

"Aseka told me that she told you." She said. Kien shook his head.

"No. She didn't tell me anything."

"Her and Jay left a half hour ago for a mission. They contacted for another Gundam pilot to come here. They all plan to meet here in a few months."

"She left?" Kien shrieked. Relena took a step back. 

"Yes. She won't be back for a while." She stammered. Kien seemed to fly out the door. Then he poked his head back inside.

"Where'd she go?"

"Shuttle Port. She's heading for Mexico." Relena said. Kien nodded and raced out again. He. Had. To. Say. Good. Bye. 

____

Aseka cast a glance outside into the cargo truck, carrying the concealed Deathscythe and DeathsWings. She shot wary glances at the workers. They didn't seem concerned that they were boarding a Gundam onto a cargo plane. Then again, they didn't know. She smiled a bit. 

As soon as the Gundams were loaded, she and Jay could board, and be out of the stupid Sanq Kingdom. Say goodbye Sanq Kingdom! Goodbye to the stone cold Heero! Goodbye Miss Relena! Goodbye…Kien. 

Aseka bit her lip. Was she going to miss him? No-- of course not! Aseka shook her head.

"Aseka!" She heard someone shout. She turned around, and saw Jay looking around, as well. It wasn't him. She turned around and looked for whoever had called for her. 

Kien burst from the crowds. Aseka gasped and leaned against the window. Jay stood up from his seat and stood next to her, just as surprised. Kien stopped a few feet in front of them, breathing hard.

"How'd you get here so freaking fast?" Jay snapped harshly. Aseka frowned at him. Any second later and he would have been using his family-famous swearing. 

"What did Mom say about that?" She chided. "'Never use it in public'." 

Jay groaned, and they both looked back to Kien, who once again had his breathing under control.

"I think Pagan passed the speed limit a few times." Kien shrugged. Jay grinned. The grin still had an edge. Jay didn't particularly like Kien since the hospital incident. Aseka stepped toward him with question written all over her face.

"Forget _how_, let me ask _why?_" She hissed. Kien appeared nervous.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" Kien asked.

"It was my idea." Jay said roughly. "We said goodbye to Lela, but I didn't think about you."

"Oh." Kien said, biting back anger. "Well, I wanted to say goodbye."

"Well, you said it, so bye-bye, now." Jay said rudely, grabbing Aseka by the arm and shooing Kien away. 

__

"Maxwell shuttle is ready for takeoff. Repeat, Maxwell shuttle is ready for takeoff."

"That's us. C'mon, Aseka." Jay continued, trying to pull Aseka away. 

"Wait!" Kien yelled. Aseka stopped, and Jay groaned. He glared at Kien, rolled his eyes at Aseka and headed toward the gate to the shuttle.

"What, Kien?" Aseka asked softly. She wondered why she was being nice.

"You're coming back, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be back in a few months." Aseka shrugged. Kien's face faltered. 

"Can't you come back sooner?" He almost seemed to beg. Aseka's eyes softened.

"Well, I--"

"Aseka! Get your butt over here!" Jay screamed from the gate.

"Wait!" She shouted. Aseka returned her gaze to Kien. 

"Can't you?"

"Kien," She started. She looked at him again. Their eyes locked. Aseka let her shoulders drop. She smiled at him, a true, pure smile, almost the first of its kind, and nodded. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I swear."

____

"Kien?" Lela asked. Kien jerked from his own thoughts violently. He looked around and found himself on a bench outside of the institution. Lela was staring at him oddly. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-- yeah. I'm fine." Kien said absently. Lela snorted and sat next to him.

"You're thinking about Aseka, aren't you?" She taunted.

"No! Why would I be?"

"I don't know…maybe because it's so obvious you like her, so it's easy to tell when you think about her."

Kien made a sound, and went red. 

"God, tell me it's not that obvious." He prayed. 

"I think it is." She said, shaking her head. "I think it's the only thing that kept you with your head after what happened…you know…_in the hospital._"

"Go away." He snorted, beyond embarrassed. Lela laughed.

"Don't you have a mission or something today?" She asked.

"Not until later." Kien shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets and sinking into the bench. He looked at her. "Why don't you fight?"

"I don't want to." Lela said harshly, taken aback by his question.

"Neither do I, but I have to."

"I believe that any war can be settled by the two sides if they only discuss the problem." She said stiffly. Kien groaned.

"You sound like my mom." He shuddered.

"I have studied her teachings ever since I was a child. That could be why." Lela pointed out.

"We need your help, Lela." 

"Nothing you could say will change my mind. Aseka could not, and neither could Jay."

"You're hopeless." Kien shrugged. Lela made a sound. She turned her head and sat up.

"Who's he?" She asked. Kien sat up and followed Lela's gaze. A boy Kien had never seen before was in uniform and leaning against a tree, reading. He had his black hair pointing out in front of him, making Kien cough to cover his laughing. 

"I don't know." Kien shrugged when he had recovered. "Mom didn't say anything about a new student."

"Do you think he's that other Gundam pilot Aseka was talking about?"

"He could be." Kien said. "We've only had one other boy here, and that was Jay. It's not often we get new students. Usually the same ones year after year."

"Shouldn't you go and talk to him?" 

"And what will I say?" Kien snapped. "'Hello, my name is Kien Yuy and I pilot the Wing Zero Gundam. By any chance do you pilot a Gundam?' I don't think so, Lela."

"It was just a suggestion." Lela snapped back. They rolled their eyes at each other and snorted.

"I wanna see the day when I hear you go, 'My name is Lela and I pilot the Sandrock'."

"You'll be waiting a very long time." Lela snapped. Kien noticed she was still staring at the new boy. He grinned.

"Is something wrong, Miss Winner?" He teased. She blushed and looked at him.

"What?" She asked. 

"Go and talk to him, Lela." Kien urged. Lela turned away. Kien looked up to the boy and saw him coming their way. He stopped in front of the bench.

"Hi." The boy said quietly. Lela looked up at him, her face red. The boy didn't seem to notice. 

"Hey." Kien said, glancing sideways at Lela with interest. 

"Hi." Lela said softly. 

"I'm Anthony Barton. You're the headmistress's son, Kien, right?"

"Yea." Kien nodded. "Lela Winner." He said, gesturing to Lela, who no longer had the courage to even look at Anthony. Still, he didn't even notice. Kien jabbed Lela, and she looked up again.

"You're new, right?" Lela asked lightly.

"Yes." Anthony said. Obvious to Kien, Anthony wasn't much of a talker.

"Is something wrong?" Kien asked, sliding back again.

"You're a Gundam pilot." Anthony said. Kien sat up, and Lela slid from her seat and hit the floor. Kien stood up and grabbed Anthony's shoulder. Anthony kept a stoic face and said nothing.

"Where'd you get that idea?" Kien growled.

"Jay told me." Anthony said quietly. "Let go of my arm."

Kien released Anthony reluctantly and Anthony rubbed the spot.

"Nice grip." He commented. 

"When did you meet Jay?"

"A few months ago. A few days before Aseka self-detonated." Anthony said calmly. 

"Were you the one in HeavyArms?" Lela said from her spot on the floor. Anthony looked down at her and nodded. Lela stared at his dark green eyes.

"You were there?" He asked. Lela nodded. 

"I don't pilot, though. I got Aseka after DeathsWings exploded. "

"I heard from Jay that she was alive." Anthony nodded. "It was weird, meeting someone and then just an hour later they 'kill' themselves."

"I guess so." Kien agreed. "They were here for a little while. Aseka was just that sort of person. Like she doesn't hold much value in her own life." He said the words with a hint of pain. 

"Would you like me to show you around, Anthony?" Lela offered. Anthony nodded.

"Thanks. That'd be nice." He said. Kien said goodbye, and rolled his eyes as Lela led Anthony away. Who ever heard of being head over heels for someone at first sight? He smacked his own head. _You, you idiot!_

____

It had been a long time since Aseka had gotten an image. She wondered if hers had faded away, due to the amount of serious injuries to her head. One of Kien quickly cured her of that thought.

__

There is music…and laughter in the air… Jay's high pitched, eccentric laughter echoed in her head…Kien…he is close…she can feel his attraction to her growing dim… This may be the last time they spend time together…she had pushed him away for too long… Ignored him…and now…she will lose him…as she did all the others…

Aseka blinked away the image. That was the last one she would have wanted. She looked around her, for a moment not remembering where she was. 

She realized she was in DeathsWings cockpit.

"Yeah, I know, DeathsWings. I didn't mean to phase out." She apologized to her Gundam. A quick slash with her scythe sliced the Capricorn in half. It exploded, leaving her blinded for a moment. 

"Are you okay, Aseka?" Jay asked frantically, seeing her hesitation.

"I'm fine. Just had another one of my little visions." She shrugged.

"Okay." She heard Jay say over the Comm. Link. "You take the last six Aquarius over there on the left, and I'll take the last three Capricorn."

"Fine. Report in after." Aseka agreed.

"Roger,"

Aseka didn't exactly have an advantage in the water with Deaths-Wings, but the Aquarius weren't very powerful. DeathsWings charged toward the amethyst-colored dolls and destroyed four of them with a blast from her buster rifle. With a swing of the scythe, the last two shared the same fate.

"You there, Jay?" Aseka said after taking a breath. 

"I'm still alive and kickin'. No need to worry about me, sis." He assured her. 

"Then, Mission accomplished. The area is secured." Aseka said firmly.

"I'll report to Dad."

"Do that. I'm heading for the surface. I need some air." She sighed breathlessly. She saw the Deathscythe tilt its massive head toward DeathsWings.

"What's wrong?" 

"I just need some air-- that's all." She snapped. She flipped the Verniae output to it's maximum and charged the surface. DeathsWings exploded out of the water and floated. Aseka opened the cockpit doors and found her cockpit a foot above the ocean waters. She unbuckled herself out of her seat and stumbled out to the door hanging over the water. She went to her knees and leaned over, splashing her face with the salty water. She took a deep breath of air.

She looked down and saw a huge black shape rising up from the deep. The Deathscythe was coming up. Aseka took another breath and stepped back inside the cockpit of DeathsWings. She closed the cockpit doors as the Deathscythe surfaced, spraying DeathsWings with water.

"Aseka," She heard Jay say, "what's wrong?"

"It's a vision, Jay. That's all. I haven't had one in a while and it freaked me out." She apologized.

"Okay." He said.

"How many more missions do we have this month?" Aseka asked.

"About four." Jay shrugged, his picture coming up on her window monitor.

"When can we get back to the Sanq Kingdom?"

He widened his eyes at her.

"Why the heck would you wanna go back there?"

"I just…do." Aseka shrugged. "It's a good sanctuary to fix the Gundams in."

"We have over twenty places to fix the Gundams in. On Earth and in outer space."

"Well,"

"You just want to see that kid again, don't you?" Jay accused. Aseka narrowed her eyes. A low growl escaped her throat, but she didn't meet his accusing glance.

"I have nothing to do with Kien Yuy." She snarled. Jay rolled his eyes.

"Sure you don't." 

"Shut up, Jay."

" Why does everyone say that to me? " He shrieked. 

"Maybe because you never do?" She offered.

"Let's get going before I take my scythe to you." He growled after a moment.

"You forget that Dad made DeathsWings to be better than the Deathscythe. It explains why I have a buster rifle and you don't. But good idea. Let's get going."

____

Lela poked her head into Anthony's dorm room that used to be Jay's. His door was already a crack open, so she figured he probably was changing clothes or anything. It was dark. He'd closed the curtains and toned down the lights.

"Anthony?" She called lightly. "Are you here?" She took a step inside and looked around. There was a bed against one wall, and another against the opposite wall. A curtain separated the two sections, but since Jay wasn't co-occupying the room, it was pushed back.

His bed was made, and the night table next to it was clean, with only an alarm clock and a book. On the shelf above his bed, he had his school uniform folded neatly in a little pile, a flute, and his schoolbooks. She walked through the room, seeing the door that led to the bathroom and twin desks for working. She tapped on the door lightly.

"Anthony?" She called again, before sliding the door open. Anthony was in there, sitting at one of the desks talking to someone through a laptop transmission. 

"I don't know what's wrong with her, Tony!" She recognized Jay's voice say. "She's been even more withdrawn than ever lately. And never before, have I ever seen my sister blush out of embarrassment. She's gone red out of anger, sadness, getting too excited, but never, as if she was hiding something."

"What do you think it is?" Anthony asked calmly. Jay nodded his head.

"That guy, Kien. I had a feeling she'd get to like him if he kept bugging her all the time. She never had people so desperate to hang out with her."

"I think he'd rather go on a date with her than hang out with her."

"Don't remind me, man!" Jay screeched. Lela heard Anthony chuckle.

"Jay," Lela asked. Anthony turned to her, with surprise written all over his face. He was also slightly red. "What's she doing now?"

"Mooning over some thing or other." Jay muttered. "She's beginning to phase out when she's in DeathsWings. I'm getting worried about it."

"What do you mean?" Lela asked, seating herself next to Anthony.

"She nearly had a Sagittarius tear DeathsWings in half because she wasn't paying attention today. And a few weeks ago, she complained of claustrophobia after a mission. Neither of us have claustrophobia. We undergo psychological examinations annually. It's not true."

They noticed Jay shift in his chair and make a pained groan.

"What's wrong?" Anthony asked.

"She broke my fibula a few days ago. Still hurts a little."

__

"Aseka broke your leg?" Anthony and Lela screamed in unison. Jay leaned back away from the screen, a surprised expression on his face.

"Not my _leg_." He argued. "A bone _in_ my leg."

"Your sister broke a bone in your leg," Anthony said slowly, making sure he understood, "_why?_"

"She was angry at me. That's all." Jay shrugged. "She kicked me real hard. I'm lucky she didn't break them both, or I'd have some trouble in the Deathscythe."

"Your sister broke your leg!" Lela screamed at him.

"So what? I broke her wrist when we were eleven. And when mom was training us, by accident she knocked both of us unconscious when we forgot to duck."

Lela and Anthony stared at him as if he were insane.

"What?" He asked. "We've broken a ton of each others bones before. Sometimes by accident, sometimes not. We're at the point where it doesn't even bother our parents or us anymore. Our parents have broken our bones, and we've broken theirs. Of course, with out parents, it's always an accident." 

"Tell me-- is there any bone your sister or your parents haven't broken?" Anthony said sarcastically, not really wanting a response.

"About fifteen or so. Just head, vertebrae, neck, and some carpal and metacarpal stuff." Jay said, thinking. "And I still have four untouched ribs,"

Anthony turned to Lela, and saw she had gone a lovely shade of green.

"Stop, Jay. You're getting Lela sick." Anthony said quietly. Jay raised an eyebrow at Anthony, who had turned to Lela again and asked her if she was okay.

"S-u-r-e…" Jay said slowly, eyeing them both. Anthony looked at a small blinking light on the top of the monitor.

"That's a transmission for a mission, Jay. I'll see you in a few days, right?"

"Yeah. Bye, Tony. Seeya, Lela." Jay waved his hand and cut transmission. Lela left camera range, and watched the screen. Another image came up seconds later. An older man, with a stoic, calm expression on his face was on the screen. Lela realized that this was Anthony's father. Her eyes shot from the both. They had the same jungle-green eyes, and the same, er, "unibang" covering a side of their face. Anthony's was black, and his father's was a autumn brown.

A very faint smile appeared on Anthony's face. 

"Hi," Anthony said after a very quiet moment. Suddenly, his father burst into laughter. 

"_That _was a weird moment." He laughed. 

"I want you to meet someone, Dad." Anthony said, gesturing in Lela's direction. Lela came back into camera range. The man's eyebrows shot up. "Dad, this is Lela Dorea Winner. Lela, this is my dad, Trowa."

"You're Lela?" Trowa asked quietly. "Quatre always tells me about you, but I've never seen you."

"I'm a little shy," 

"It's nice to finally see you." Trowa said, giving her a friendly smile. Lela nodded, returning the smile. Trowa returned his attention to Anthony. "Who were you talking with?"

"Jay Maxwell." Anthony said.

"Duo's kid?" Trowa said, amusement slightly filling his voice.

"Know him?"

"I know Duo has kids, but that's about it." Trowa shrugged. "He has a daughter, too, right?"

"Aseka." Anthony said, nodding. "Have a mission for me?"

Trowa nodded again. 

The screen filled with computer commands. Lela didn't understand a word of it, but Anthony's eyes followed it, line by line. 

"Mission accepted." Anthony said sullenly. The screen went black, and Anthony shut the laptop.

"When is it?" 

"Later tonight. I should be back by tomorrow." Anthony said a stilled voice. He looked at her as she opened the curtains, letting golden light flow inside. There was a moment of quiet, as Lela looked out the window. "Will you do something for me?" He asked suddenly. Lela looked at him.

"I guess." She shrugged.

"Jay told me about the ZERO system." He said softly. "I think you should use it."

"What?" Lela shrieked. 

"In a test fight with HeavyArms. I'm sure Kien would lend you the Wing Zero."

"You might get hurt! I've seen what that thing can do!"

"You underestimate HeavyArms." Anthony shook his head. "I know that the Wing Zero is a lot stronger than HeavyArms, but a Gundam can't do serious damage to another without some extreme force, and you can't pilot all too well."

"Thanks." She said dryly. 

"I'm saying what is." He shrugged again. Lela was ready to protest again, but she didn't want to get Anthony mad at her for arguing.

"Just for a little while-- okay?" She agreed in a small voice. Anthony shook his head. 

"I'll talk to Kien about it, and we'll meet in the test field in an hour, okay? The suits will already be there. You won't get hurt." He promised.

"I trust you."

____

Anthony went over the simplest instructions he could once more. Lela nodded, with her skin pale with worry.

"Lela," Anthony soothed, "you can't hurt HeavyArms that badly without the buster rifle, and Miss Relena forbade the use of it. All you have is some ammunition, and that's all HeavyArms is. Heavy Armaments, you get it? All both of us have is a lot of bullets."

"Yeah," She nodded, still pale. He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled.

"If anything happens, just stop moving and call me through the Comm. Link. I'll get over right away."

"The system…"

"Just don't overreact if you see anything bad." Anthony warned. He slipped the last disk inside. "Just hit this switch when we start."

"Okay." Lela said confidently, gripping the controls in a death-grip. She could feel her fingernails biting into her skin. "I'm ready. Let's get this over with." 

Anthony smiled once more, and swung down from the Wing Zero. He waved to Kien who was watching, and boarded the HeavyArms as Lela took a deep breath. 

She flipped the switch.

Lela had had no military training in her entire life, but suddenly, she exactly knew how she could attack the HeavyArms and come out victorious. _Keep a level head,_ she reminded herself. _This isn't real. Anthony wouldn't hurt me…_

Missiles flew from HeavyArms. Lela pulled on the controls and Wing went up, dodging them. She fired with the beam cannon. The beam hit his shoulder, but didn't damage the Gundam. Something clouded her vision. She blinked and shook her head to clear it. Something was wrong…

What was that? Lela tried to focus. She no longer saw the HeavyArms. 

"Is that Dorothy Catalonia?" Lela whispered hoarsely, trying to identify the illusion. She fired the beam cannon, slicing through the image, catching HeavyArms in the chest. Lela felt the Wing shake madly as some of Anthony's missiles hit Wing. "No!" She shouted.

_Now what?_ Her mind screamed, seeing an image of the battle that had put Kien and Aseka in the hospital in her head. Wing… Deathscythe… DeathsWings…HeavyArms…what was missing in this war? _Me,_ she thought harshly, taking out her rage on HeavyArms. _I have to make the difference! They won't win the war, will they, Wing Zero? No…they need the Sandrock. But… But…_

Lela suddenly couldn't remember why she wasn't piloting Sandrock as another set of missiles hit her. _Because I'm a pacifist!_ Her mind persisted. _I can't…fight… Why not? They need Sandrock, and they need me… Stop, Wing Zero! I'm convinced! Thank you, Anthony, and thanks, Zero. _

The Zero stopped without her touching anything.

____

Anthony saw the Wing Zero stop, so he paused, thinking something was wrong. The cockpit doors of the Wing Zero opened, and Lela swung down. Anthony sighed. "I guess she really won't be convinced." He realized, disappointed. He shut HeavyArms down, and swung down. 

He raced over to the not-moving Lela. When he reached her, she had by far the most serious expression he had ever seen on her face. Totally emotionless.

"Lela! Are you okay?" He shouted. She turned to him as if she had just realized he was there.

"Anthony, " She started, "get me a next flight to Arabia. I'm going to get Sandrock."

_No matter how much you missed him, don't show it. _Aseka commanded herself. _You've been too much of an idiot the past month, so hold on to the last shreds of dignity you have. _

Aseka made time pass by watching Jay try and get his broken leg into a position that didn't hurt him. She didn't feel the least bit sorry. And he wasn't the least bit angry. Jay had gone a little too far by calling Kien her boyfriend. Aseka kicked him, almost hoping to hear his fibula snap.

That's how angry she'd been.

"What's so funny?" He snapped at her. The boy had a patience level of zero, and the flight was long. He was on his last set of nerves.

"You are. You can't get your log of a leg to move?"

"You work well. I can't get into any position." He grumbled.

"Thanks. Want me to break the tibia next time?"

"I'll pass." He said dryly.

"Yes-- that would hurt considerably more, wouldn't it?" She said coyly.

"I should know-- Dad broke the left one when I was thirteen, and I broke the right one just nine months later."

"You're such a clutz." Aseka teased. 

"So I fell-- leave me alone." Jay muttered. Aseka laughed for a moment.

The plane landed. Aseka breathed. She was back in the Sanq Kingdom. But she couldn't remember why she had been so desperate to return.

She remembered suddenly when she saw a familiar figure outside her window, standing next to Jay's friend, Anthony. _Kien…_ She thought. _Don't do this to me. I…have…to…ignore…you… _She thought the words harshly. It hurt her to have to do this. She stood up as passengers exited the plane, and left Jay to figure out how to walk. She exited the plane, carrying the only piece of luggage she had besides DeathsWings, but that was on a separate carrier to arrive in a few days.

"Aseka!" Kien breathed. "It's great to see you!" 

She nodded in greeting to Kien, almost smiling. The corners of her mouth twitched, so she fought the smile away harshly.

"You too, Kien." She said softly. "Hi, Anthony." She said to the dark-haired pilot. 

"Hey, Aseka." The boy said. 

"Where's Lela?" Aseka said, glancing around, not meeting Kien's face.

Anthony leaned over to her, smiling widely. 

"She went to get Sandrock! She's going to help us!" He said excitedly.

"Good," Aseka sighed with relief. Kien looked around.

"And Jay?"

"Still in the plane. He's having trouble walking." Aseka shrugged.

Kien looked slightly confused. Anthony sighed and told him.

"You broke his leg?" Kien shrieked.

"So? I also broke three of his ribs a few years ago, and he's not still whining about that, is he?"

"Uh," Kien started. He looked up and saw Jay walk down the steps with a little difficulty, but a stewardess was letting him lean on her for help. He was smiling widely and winking to the little welcoming committee. 

The stewardess left him with Aseka and walked away.

"Pervert." Aseka teased playfully. Jay shrugged, the smile still glued to his face.

____

Aseka stared at her ceiling, trying not to think of anything. She lay back on her bed; her arms crossed beneath her head and her legs propped up on the bedpost. She sneered a moment, remembering that she'd have to change back into her uniform in a moment for class. Then she shrugged, wiping the cold expression away.

Other than the pacifism thing, it wasn't such a bad school. The institution taught more than pacifism; it was also a school for fine arts. There was etiquette, which Aseka could do very well when she felt like it, art, dancing, music, languages, regular school courses, and anything else a rich little girl needed to know to be well bred. Aseka had been learning it all since she was a baby. Simple stuff.

Aseka could speak four languages, dance to classical music correctly, paint, draw, play the violin, and excel in math, history, science, and almost all courses. If given the opportunity, she could run an entire corporate business at her age. But no. She piloted a Gundam. 

Jay could do the same, but never practiced very often. That is, except for his music. Aseka giggled at their choice of music. Aseka and Jay had both chosen an interesting instrument to learn to play, and they had never even seen each other's. Aseka played the electric violin, and Jay played the electric guitar. But their mom had a strict rule against hard rock. But they did have some intense music.

Her door slammed open. Aseka almost grabbed her gun from her waist. 

"Aseka! You have to see what your brother and the boys are doing!" A girl yelled then ran off. Aseka sat up, and sat in a daze for a moment. She got up, and followed a few girls downstairs, out to the grounds.

Aseka tilted her head at the strange site before her. All that it seemed to be was all fifty of the girls assembled in an odd circle. Aseka raised an eyebrow when she heard swing music coming from somewhere. She looked around, and saw a tape player on a bench, with the volume up to the max. Swing music blasted from it. She broke through the crowd of cheering girls, and instantly burst into laughter at what she saw.

Out of the entire school, there were fifty-two girl students, including Lela and herself, and only three male students. Kien, Jay, and Anthony. And these three poor boys were dancing in turn with each of the girls. Each had a big smile on his face, but they were exhausted. Jay seemed to be having the most fun of all, no surprise to Aseka.

Jay spun some poor girl around, and she stumbled into Kien, who passed his girl to Anthony. Kien and the new girl danced momentarily before she was passed to Anthony, and Anthony's girl went back to the crowd. 

"Aseka!" Jay shouted cheerily. He waved, and pulled her in, tossing his girl. She and Jay danced perfectly together, with Aseka laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, and then Jay tossed her to Anthony instead of Kien.

"You really messed him up." Anthony said softly in her ear, he slowed down to catch his breath. 

"What do you mean?"

"Jay. When he thought you died, he must have dropped seven pounds. He got really thin, and kept checking for your death report instead of eating."

"I knew he would." Aseka agreed lightly.

"Then why'd you break his leg?"

"Why are you dwelling on that? Do you want to know a big secret?" Aseka whispered harshly. "Jay and me were fighting, and he shoved me."

"Huh?"

"I told my parent's I'd fallen. I've told everyone I'd fallen. But the honest truth-- it was Jay who pushed me from the Leo when I was ten."

"Oh my God--" Anthony whispered in amazement. 

"And that's the reason we have such a wonderful friendship, but we're not angry when we hurt each other. I nearly died, and he'll always blame himself for that, even though I forgave him for it long ago."

Aseka stepped away from him and parted the crowds angrily. She'd almost reached the stairs back to the institution when someone grabbed her arm.

"Going inside, Aseka? C'mon. You haven't danced with me yet." Kien said softly. She turned to him with a sad expression on her face.

"Kien--"

"Aseka, come on." He pleaded. She shrugged and turned to him. A slower song came on, and they could hear it, even from where they were. She knew her stance for that type of music, and apparently, he did, too. They moved slowly to the music, and Aseka, knowing she was madly red, stared at the ground, and drowned herself in her thoughts. She heard Jay laugh at something. _God, he laughs loud._

Kien got slightly closer to her. Aseka didn't mind. She had a sudden realization. She'd been ignoring him for too long. She'd given him a moment's hope that she likes him, but after that, she showed no emotion toward him. And she realized that Kien hadn't bothered her in slightest in the last few days. Just looked at her sadly whenever he passed. He was beginning to go away. Beginning to accept that she didn't feel the same. She realized with dread that this may be the last time he ever asked anything of her ever again.

She thought about her life. And she thought about his. Kien had had a normal life, unaware of the war coming. He'd had friends and a considerably good life for a teenager. Aseka had not. Friends had not exactly been impossible, just something she had never had. Jay had his friends, the ones that didn't know he was a assassin-in-training. A few of them had liked her, as much as Kien did now. 

Aseka had never returned the feeling. And eventually, they went away, leaving her to focus totally on training. That was all she had cared about. _Train yourself now, and you can live long enough to have a normal life after the war. _Was that why she had not even attempted to be his friend in the beginning? Because he hadn't been so dedicated as she? Did her mind even realize he'd never even been trained properly? And maybe that was what she liked about him now.

For someone who had never trained correctly, he fought well. She couldn't be so judgmental. Because Kien had something she didn't. A knowledge of the world. Aseka could run the world with what she knew, but only Kien could live it. 

She stopped dancing, and hugged him tightly close to her. She didn't want to let him go. _Don't drive him away…_ Her mind echoed. She could feel Kien's utter shock, surprise, and ultimate happiness at her sudden action of affection. She lifted her head to him, and he saw her eyes welling with tears. None fell, and he didn't ask. 

He leaned in very slowly to kiss her…

"What the He--" Someone shrieked right behind them. Aseka broke away from him. They turned to see Jay, looking very interested in them. His eyes were shooting daggers at Kien. Aseka glared at Jay, and he didn't finish his sentence.

"Shut up, Jay. Don't say a thing." Aseka snapped. She turned quickly around and quickly walked back into the school for class. Jay shot him another dirty look, and raced after Aseka. Kien sighed deeply.

Then he heard something crack, and someone screamed,

"THAT WAS MY LAST UNTOUCHED CARPAL!"

____

Kien tried not to laugh as he saw Jay feebly walk around all that week, with his hand clutched to his chest. Kien wasn't quite sure if Aseka had meant to break his finger or not, but he shamefully found as much fun in watching Jay limp around that Aseka did. Turns out he'd pointed his finger at her, she'd grabbed it, and then, _crack._

But now, after all that, why had Aseka been avoiding him for three days?

Aseka was by far the most confusing girl Kien had ever met. One minute she couldn't stand to be near him, the next she was hugging him and almost kissing him… 

Kien woke up from his thoughts with a startled jolt. Girls in the hall were making excited noises, and he didn't know why. A sudden "Welcome back!" reminded him of Lela. He walked in the direction of the voices. It was Lela, all right. She had a look on her face Kien had never seen before. She was smiling back at her happy friends, but her smile had depths and secrets the peppy girls surrounding her couldn't detect.

"Hey, Kien!" She said cheerily. 

"Good to see you again, Lela." Kien said nicely. Lela gave him a cunning grin. 

"What'd I miss?"

"Aseka broke Jay's last metacarpal." Kien mumbled, trying not to laugh. Lela continued smiling. What was wrong with her? 

"Too bad." She said softly. Her voice was tainted with something Kien didn't understand. Her voice was too smooth.

"Lela--"

"I borrowed something of yours." She said simply. Kien took a breath. _She used the ZERO system, that's what's wrong…_

"Make sure you give it back." He warned. She shrugged, as if it didn't matter to her.

"I'll see you in music." Lela said in her tainted voice. She brushed past him, and Kien sighed with worry. Someone else almost raced by him. Kien recognized the waist-length chestnut hair. He grabbed her arm.

He heard her gasp.

"Aseka, what's wrong, you've been avoiding me lately."

"It's nothing, I've been busy." She said in a hurried voice. She carried a violin case.

"You play the violin? That's neat. So does Lela." 

"Where's Jay?" She asked as if she didn't hear him. 

"He went to the nurse, and she says his hand is just fine. He'll be in music today. Mom wants us all to play instruments today, but mine's out of tune. It'll be just you four today."

"I know he's fine. We're playing a duet today in music. I asked you where he was." Aseka continued distractedly. Kien sighed again. 

"Class." He said softly. Aseka nodded.

"You can let me go." Aseka said in a commanding voice.

"Talk to me, Aseka. What's the matter with you?"

Aseka turned to him, pain etched into her face. "I like you, Kien. I honestly do. But I _can't_. I have to focus on the war."

"But--"

"I like you so much that when I think of you I nearly get myself killed. I can't have that happen. You're a distraction from my mission."

Kien had no words for what Aseka had told him, so instead, he kissed her.

____

"She's late for class." Relena said. "Jay, go and find her, will you?"

"Yes, ma'am." Jay said, still holding his hand. It felt fine, but he was getting so much attention from a pretty girl named Lily…

He got up out of his seat, setting his guitar case down on his chair. Any student who expected him to play classical music with Aseka was gonna get a _big_ surprise… Jay walked out into the hall, wondering if she was still in her room. He turned the corner, and nearly hit the floor.

His freaky, demonic sister was all wrapped up in the arms of the boy he liked the least in the entire world. _Kissing her_. Jay was ready to throw up his arms, pull out his pistol, shoot the guy in the arm, but he realized that Aseka wasn't pulling away from him. His jaw dropped in amazement. Aseka had never really shown an interest in anyone, mostly ignored them. He groaned, hoping they'd hear him and break away shamefully. He almost gagged when he saw how involved they were. 

He grimaced. Time to pull up a good face, and be "happy" for her. Time to make a joke, time to do _something_, before he totally went insane!

"God-- get a room, you freaks." He teased, biting his tongue before he began swearing in the only two languages he knew. Aseka broke away from Kien, and stared at Jay like he was insane. Kien seemed to fade away into a daze. Aseka didn't say a word, but she didn't look angry, so Jay felt his last fourteen bones were safe. She walked away in a rush, and Jay watched the not-moving Kien until it became boring.

Then he walked to class, where he saw a madly blushing Lela playing her violin with a pale Anthony playing his flute alongside her. Jay shook his head. Sad. Nice music, though. He sat next to Aseka, who had her electric violin neatly on her lap. To the unknowing eyes, both of their electric instruments appeared to be the classical type, until they pulled out the cords. This would be interesting.

____

Relena looked pleased when Aseka and Jay got up and sat in front of the class, ready to play their instruments. 

"This song doesn't have a name, and it's not very long, but it's one of our favorite short songs." Aseka said lightly. Jay passed her a cord, and Relena arched an eyebrow when she saw the Maxwell duo plug their instruments into the wall.

"Uh," She started. Kien tapped her from behind.

"I kinda want to hear it." Kien shrugged. Relena shrugged and let them begin. Aseka brought her violin to the proper spot and began playing a low, haunting tune. Starting slow, but made it a little faster when Jay came in and played a few notes. Relena sat straight up, wondering.

When Lela had played her instrument, she had been red like heck, but had a peaceful, serene look on her face. Aseka had a strange, serious, stony expression. Both of them did. On a strange level, Relena liked the song they played. It had an almost classical tone to it, but it was intense. Like the two who played it. She glanced at her class, and saw that they all stared at the duo with wide, freaky expressions. 

She had a sudden urge to call it the song of the demons. 

____

Nightmares of previous battles plagued Kien as he rested before a mission. He tossed and turned feverishly, until they shifted to wonderful dreams of Aseka…

"Wake up." Someone said fiercely. Kien opened his eyes quickly, and sat up to see who it was. They turned on the light, and saw his father.

"Hey." He said somewhat nervously.

"I saw what happened earlier." Heero said. Kien went red. It was bad enough that Jay had seen it.

"And?" Kien asked nervously. 

"You have to be more dedicated to the mission. Don't get distracted."

"Aseka says stuff like that all the time." Kien grumbled. 

"Don't get off the point!" Heero barked. 

"Yes, sir."

"What I'm saying is, don't let her distract you. No matter what."

"Dad,"

"I don't care if Duo comes here and strangles me with his bare hands. Do. Not. Get. Distracted. From. Your. Mission. "

"Are you telling me to ki--" Kien said with shock. Heero growled for a moment, and turned around and walked away. Kien shook with fear.

____

"Where's Kien?" Aseka asked. Jay shook his head, Anthony shrugged, and Lela spoke up.

"Mission." She said softly. Aseka was relieved that the ZERO system after-effects had worn off from Lela, and she was sweet and quiet again.

"Oh." Aseka said, nodding. Then she perked up, feeling hyper. 

She looked at Lela, sitting primly on her own bed with Anthony beside her, looking around. She and Jay sat on Aseka's bed. 

"What?" Lela asked nervously, seeing the gleam in Aseka's eyes. 

"You know, Lela, I was thinking…" Aseka said sweetly, "now that you're a Gundam pilot and all, I think you should wear something slightly different."

"Different as in how?" Lela asked, examining the leather-clad Aseka. 

"Not exactly like me," Aseka assured her, "but you can't look so much like a princess."

"I don't know--" She said carefully. Aseka pushed Jay off her bed.

"You and Anthony scram. I'm going to give Miss Lela Dorea Winner a makeover."

Lela shot Anthony a pleading look, and Aseka stared at him with daggers in her eyes.

Anthony and Jay walked out solemnly, with Jay holding his cross and chanting. 

"What's that you're saying?" Anthony asked curiously, trying not to hear Lela's protests. 

"God save Lela from the horror of bad taste in clothes." Jay said sadly, grinning.

"What?"

"You might not want to know this, but Aseka has something for almost every part of the body in black leather." Jay warned. Anthony stared at the shut door with a new fear filling space in his head.

____

The door opened a half-hour later, and Aseka emerged, looking pleased with herself. 

"Done." She said cheerily. Anthony and Jay shot each other worried looks. "C'mon out, Lela. You look good."

"I'm cold!" They heard Lela shout. 

"You'll get used to it!" Aseka assured her.

"I can't see!"

"It looks good, though!" Aseka argued. 

"All right, all right." Lela grumbled. She took a tiny step into the hall.

Anthony and Jay's jaws hit the floor.

Lela had a new haircut. Her once short, fluffy bangs had vanished somewhere, leaving straight, sleek, long golden strands to fall into her face, going to the bridge of her nose. Their eyes went down, meeting a low-cut pink tank top, skin-tight blue jeans, and sneakers. 

Jay turned to Anthony and looked at him. He looked dumbstruck, seemingly staring into space. "Least she's not wearing leather," Jay said helpfully. 

"I wouldn't say that exactly." Aseka said mockingly. Lela turned around, and the boys saw that in red leather words, "Hot Girl". 

Anthony passed out; the last words he was hearing were,

"When on earth did you ever get a pink shirt, sis?"

____

Aseka heard the voices very quietly. They were trying to whisper. Trying to tell Lela, without Aseka hearing them. But she heard them anyway,

Kien had self-detonated.

She sat up straight, staring at them. Jay's face faltered, and Anthony sighed. Lela burst into tears. "Are you okay?" Jay asked quietly. Aseka's lip trembled. _No, not Kien…oh no…_ Then she swallowed hard and sat up. Her face hardened into steely anger.

"Why wouldn't I be? So the pilot of the Wing Zero died." She said coldly. They stared at her, unbelieving. "We're going to space, tonight. I'm going to kill Catalonia."

____

They coupled four suit carriers together; loaded a Gundam on to each one, and all sat together in the first one, taking shifts on driving the enormous collection of carriers.

Jay was driving first. He turned to Aseka, who was sitting next to him sullenly. 

"What exactly are we going to do about Catalonia?" He asked the group. "She's bound to have limitless dolls guarding her."

"Just one of us need to get in to assassinate her. Once she's dead, her army will have to surrender." Aseka said coldly. "The rest of us will hold her dolls at bay." 

"I'll do it." Jay shrugged, as if it wasn't anything at all. The other three looked at him.

"I'll do it." Aseka argued. "I have more reason than you." 

"If reason is the way-- then I'll kill her." A soft voice murmured. Jay, Aseka, and Anthony turned and saw Lela staring out the window in a strange daze.

"Three years before any of us were born, Daye Maxwell predicted this war. She foresaw that I would correct the mistake made by my father twenty years ago."

"What…?" Aseka whispered.

"Dad told Daye not to kill Dorothy." She said bitterly.

"Lela…" Anthony started.

"It'd be best if I stayed out of the battlefield anyway. I have zero battle experience. Just get me there, and I'll handle Dorothy."

"Well then." Aseka said in a stony voice. "It's yours, then." Then she gave a crooked smile. "Make her suffer just a little-- for your dad, and for Kien."

____

"I'm guessing you've never been to space." Jay mused, watching Lela clench her arms on her armrest in a death grip. Anthony turned to her and whistled. 

"Lela, we're not even off the ground yet." Aseka said from the seat in front of them. 

"It's okay, Lela. Space is great!" Anthony assured her.

"Yeah! Space is the place!" Jay said, nodding. Lela jabbed them both in the ribs.

"It's not space I'm afraid of!" She shrieked. "I hate flying! Shut up, you ingrates!"

Silence. 

Lela heard Aseka chuckle after a moment. 

"Don't take it personally, Anthony." She mused. "You know she'll be begging for forgiveness after the flight."

Anthony looked at Lela, and saw that Aseka was right. She was breathing hard and continuing to clutch her armrests. She looked horrible. Then again, so did Aseka. Anthony was unusually quite, and even Jay didn't feel much like talking. A dead silence hung over them.

It would be a long flight.

____ 

"She's expecting us." Aseka said over the Comm. Link. Jay looked at the mobile dolls arranged in front of them, protecting the small drifting base. The dolls were ready to fight. 

"You're right." Jay muttered darkly. "We have to get Lela there as soon as possible, and safely, too."

"Is she okay?" Aseka asked suddenly, glancing back toward the Sandrock and HeavyArms. 

"I'm fine, just nervous." Lela assured them; her breathing a little labored.

"It's starting!" Anthony shouted as the dolls began charging them. Aseka braced herself and ran her scythe through the closest Gemini she saw. She looked back at Lela, and saw the girl handling her fight well. Lela had the sickle blades out, and was using them quickly, having already destroyed three Scorpio. Knowing her friend was safe; she returned full attention to fighting her own battle.

"Get the Sandrock to the docking bay!" Jay screamed. "It's getting worse!"

Aseka saw what Jay was seeing. The mobile doll forces were increasing steadily. "How did she get so many freaking dolls?" Aseka screamed. 

"Don't worry about how, just worry about getting Lela past it all safely!" Anthony shouted.

"Right." Aseka and Jay agreed, feeling excitement rise inside of them.

HeavyArms latched on to Sandrock, and hauled her all the way to the docking bay by himself, and pushed her inside before resuming fighting.

"Shove getting her past safely, Anthony did it all by himself!" Jay shouted in amazement. Aseka giggled lightly and shrugged. Jay just blinked before they both returned to protecting the docking bay, and their friend.

____

Sandrock jolted as it hit the floor of the docking bay. She took a deep breath, and tucked the gun Aseka had given her into the holster at her waist. She opened the cockpit doors and floated out, onto a railing above the bay. Lela clutched her stomach. She would never get used to floating around like this. But was it not the lack of gravity that bothered her, or that she was about to take a human's life?

Once she reached the railing, she could stand up without floating off. Other than her, Sandrock, and a small shuttle far from her, _nothing_ was in the bay. 

"Must have evacuated everyone." Lela muttered. She moved slowly, keeping the gun ready. She walked through several halls, and no one passed her. All doors were opened, all except for one that was at the end of the hall.

She looked at the door, and saw it needed an access key. 

"Forget that," Lela said impatiently. She fired the gun and the lock exploded. The door slid open into a dimly lit room. When Lela entered, it lit up. She lifted the gun and looked around. She was in the control room. There was a chair facing the windows in the center of the room. 

"Are you stroking a cat or something back there?" Lela hissed coldly. The chair whirled around, and Dorothy faced her. Lela brought the gun up again and aimed.

"Put that thing down." Dorothy said. 

"No." 

"You're here to kill me, right?" She asked slyly. 

"You got that right." Lela hissed. 

"There's a few things I want to share with you before I die, so will you bear with me?" Dorothy said and stood up. Lela braced herself. 

"Talk fast." 

"Fine then." Dorothy said. She went to the window, and Lela saw that Dorothy had a perfect view of the battle outside. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"Battle. The white mobile suit-- I thought it was destroyed. The persistence of those pilots is admirable. Even now, just nineteen hours after 01 was destroyed." She said. "Listen to this recording I have. It's an interesting transmission for the pilots, made by the pilot of 01." Lela took a breath. She heard Kien's strained voice scream, 

__

"I can't breathe…Sanq Kingdom…come in! Come in! I need backup! Cornered…I can't…can't…I can't breathe! I have to…self-detonate…sorry, Aseka. Please don't be mad at me… " 

"Kien!" Lela screamed. "My God!" 

Dorothy turned to Lela. "What's your name, girl?"

"My name is Lela Dorea Winner, and I pilot the Sandrock." Lela said fiercely. _Oh God Kien, why couldn't you have heard me say that? Why aren't you here? Aseka misses you, but she won't admit it!_

"Winner, huh?" Dorothy mused. "Then I have an interesting story for you."

"Get it over with." Lela snarled. For a moment, Dorothy eyed Lela's new outfit with her frost-blue eyes. 

"Nice outfit." She commented.

"Just talk!" Lela shouted.

"Okay, okay." Dorothy shrugged, and sat back down in her chair. There was a moment of strained silence before Dorothy said anything. "Long ago." She started. "I stabbed your father. Then, he made me feel so horrible without even trying to, that I convinced myself that I could be a better person." Dorothy said hatefully.

"So, is that it?" Lela said rudely.

"And I continued to convince myself for a few years. But when I was eighteen, about two years after I stabbed Quatre, I knew I wasn't fooling anybody anymore. Around the anniversary of Mariemaia's death, I broke into an abandoned Oz facility, and then, I started Oz again."

"Is that it?" Lela asked. Dorothy nodded. "And I have one for you. My dad healed almost fully from the stab wound. There were just a few nerve endings that couldn't be repaired properly, but he was fine."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Dorothy asked impatiently. 

"It will." Lela snapped. "I guess about the time you started working on reviving Oz, Dad fell, and practically destroyed the nerve endings, leaving him limping."

"Sorry to hear that." Dorothy said as if she really didn't care. 

"So now he walks funny-- thanks to you." Lela said harshly. 

"It has nothing to do with this war." 

"It merges with another story, the one I'm about to tell you." 

"Another one? Make it fast." Dorothy rolled her eyes. 

"Shut up."

"Just spill it, will you?"

"You've heard of the Angel of Death?" Lela asked. Dorothy raised a forked eyebrow.

"Yes. I have. The little murderer would be old by now, most probably."

"Maybe." Lela said sweetly. "The Angel of Death had a normal life for a little while, but then they had to kill 40 people due to lack of interest in missions. The Angel was a good friend of my dads, and hadn't seen him in years. They met again about six months after he fell. 

"The Angel told my dad they'd get revenge for hurting him, namely you. My dad didn't want you to die, and the Angel told him it was part of their mission. You were going to be executed. Two years later, the Angel was going to kill you, but again, my dad stopped them. Dorothy, you were supposed to die that night, eighteen years ago. You owe my dad your life. It was also the night that the Angel foresaw this war. They knew I'd have to fight, and I would correct the mistake."

Lela lifted the gun again, and her smile disappeared. "And here goes." She took aim, and closed her eyes.

"Wait a moment, Lela." Someone said. Lela opened her eyes and looked around. Dorothy looked around also. Lela turned around and saw someone walking toward them, stepping out of the shadows. 

Lela had only met the person once before, but recognized her instantly. The grown woman hadn't worn the black clerical outfit in years, the silver cross was at its peak of horrible, and the golden locks of hair on the sides of her face were just slightly past her chin. Lela instantly recognized the electric green eyes. 

"Mrs. Maxwell?" She shrieked. Daye smiled, and brought her hands up. Lela saw that Daye was holding a gun, aimed at Dorothy.

"Lela, go." Daye said. "I'll handle Dorothy."

"I thought that I was supposed to--" 

"I know. I don't know what your story sounds like about my prophecy, but the mistake I told your father about was that he wouldn't let me take revenge. He wasn't the only reason Dorothy didn't die that night. I was weak. I just wanted to get back to my real life."

Dorothy blinked. "You're the Angel of Death?" She asked loudly. Daye didn't answer. 

"I didn't want your father to hate me. Other than Duo at the time, he was my only friend. And that's why I'm here now. If he's going to hate someone for killing this monster," She gestured at Dorothy. "I don't want it to be you. Let him blame me."

"Mrs. Maxwell,"

"The mistake was that I never had the right revenge. You've heard of 'An eye for an eye, a life for a life'? That's what your job is." Daye said stiffly.

Lela understood, and fired the gun, hitting Dorothy on the hip. Dorothy screamed in pain.

"Now go." Daye commanded. "My mission was never completed. Now it will be."

"I see," Lela said softly. She took a few steps back and heard Daye say something harshly in a fierce voice.

"I am the Angel of Death." Daye said. Lela moved faster out the door. She didn't want to hear the gun shoot. "I am married to the God of Death. My twin children are the Demons. And it's your fault they couldn't live a normal life."

Lela went back to the docking bay as the gun fired. She covered her ears and whimpered. Daye joined her a moment later, and tossed her gun over the side of the rail. 

"Mission complete. I'm heading back to my Colony, tell Aseka and Jay to get home soon." Daye said softly. She paused and turned to Lela. "The mobile dolls have stopped. The kids should be here soon."

"Yes ma'am." Lela said. Daye swung off the rail and headed toward the small shuttle. A moment later, it fired up and drifted out.

Lela sighed again as another shuttle entered. She sat straight up in amazement. Daye couldn't be back. The shuttle was slightly more beat up. A different one. Someone drifted out, someone Lela recognized.

"Kien--?" She whispered hoarsely. "KIEN!"

The figure looked up, dazed. It was Kien. Lela jumped from the rail and floated toward him. She caught him from floating away and pulled him up to the railing. He didn't say anything, but looked dazed and confused.

Kien had his arm in a splint, and bandages all over his head and torso. 

"Are you okay?" She asked. "How did you get here?"

"I'm okay," He said thickly with exhaustion. "I fell out of Wing Zero right before it exploded…I made it back to Mom, and then I knew where you all had gone." He sat on the ground and breathed hard. "Where's Aseka?" 

"Fighting." Lela said, her voice trembling. "Kien, are you really alive?" 

"Yeah. What happened?" He asked. "Is it over?"

"It is."

"I'm happy." Kien said, nodding. "I guess I won't have to rebuild Wing Zero after all."

Lela smiled and a tear tricked down her face. "Aseka is gonna kill you."

"Maybe I should have brought extra painkillers after all." Kien mumbled. The three Gundams slowly drifted into the docking bay, each one with considerable damage. Jay jumped from the Deathscythe, shouting happily.

"Lela!" He screamed. "Great job!"

Lela decided she would tell them all who had really done it after the excitement had worn off. Anthony floated from HeavyArms and hugged her tightly. 

Didn't anyone notice Kien? DeathsWings slumped over, and Aseka tumbled out, holding her arm tight to her body. 

"I slammed against my cockpit walls a little too hard. I broke my arm." She said lightly. Lela gasped, and Anthony raced to her. 

"Don't move it too much. We'll find something for a splint." Anthony said. Jay and Aseka looked at them both as if nothing was wrong.

"What?" Jay asked. Aseka grabbed her elbow with her other hand and pulled.

Lela, Anthony, and Kien heard Aseka's arm crack back into place and they all clutched at their stomachs. Jay broke a piece of railing off and they tied it to Aseka's arm. Lela went green, Anthony went white, and Kien zoned out. At that moment, Anthony, Jay, and Aseka saw Kien. Jay's jaw dropped.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you got here," He said, shaking his head in amazement, "but it's good to know you're alive."

"Whoa…" Anthony whispered hoarsely, "how did you…-- you know what? Tell me later."

Kien grinned weakly and nodded. The four turned to Aseka to see how she'd react.

"So you're alive again." She said. And that was it. Her eyes were wildly angry. Kien's heart sank. Everyone else sighed under their breath. She turned to the rest of them. "I guess we all go our separate ways now." She said softly. "Now that the war is over."

"I'm staying in the Sanq Kingdom to finish up my pacifist education." Lela said. 

"I'll stay, too." Anthony said, nodding. 

"Me and Aseka have to go back to the Colony. We'll come back and visit, okay?"

"Maybe Dad can take me with him next time he goes to space." Lela said. "So I'll be seeing you."

"There's a few shuttles on the other side of this base. I'll go get them ready." Jay said sadly. He shook Anthony's hand. "Be seeing ya, Tony. It was great fighting with you." He offered his hand to Kien without reluctance. Kien shook it. "Later, Kien." 

"I'll see you sometime." Anthony said enthusiastically. Kien nodded. 

"When I get full control over my lower limbs, I'll visit your colony."

He walked to Lela and shook her hand. She saw his eyes drift down.

"Look and die." He heard Anthony snarl. Lela giggled as Jay stepped back.

Jay walked away. Lela sighed. "Since me and Anthony are both going back to the Sanq Kingdom with you, we'll share a shuttle." She said. "I'm going to get the Sandrock to the shuttle." She turned to Aseka and gave her a hug. "I hope to see you sometime soon." She said. Aseka smiled and nodded. 

"I'll see you soon." She said. Lela swung from the rails and drifted to the Sandrock.

"I'll get HeavyArms." Anthony said, wanting to leave Aseka and Kien alone. He shook her hand, glancing warily at Aseka's arm. Aseka laughed at him and shrugged. 

"Seeya, Anthony." 

Anthony followed Lela and boarded HeavyArms. Once the suits had left the docking bay, Aseka walked to Kien and slapped him. He fell back and looked at her with no surprise on his face.

"How could you do that to me?" She screamed. 

"Aseka, I couldn't help it!" Kien protested. "I was cornered in my mission, and you know I'm claustrophobic! I freaked out… I'm sorry." 

"You should be! When I thought you died, I convinced myself that everything I'd ever felt for you wasn't true at all. Now that you're alive again, do you want me to run into your arms happily or something?"

"Not a good idea, considering I dislocated my shoulder earlier." Kien said, trying to keep her calm. Aseka laughed coldly.

"Goodbye, Kien." She said icily. "Maybe I'll see you again sometime." She turned around and drifted to DeathsWings. 

"Aseka!" He shouted in protest. "Can you forgive me?" 

She turned around in midair. "I want to, Kien. Believe me, I do. So maybe I will someday."

She boarded DeathsWings and left the docking bay, leaving Kien and his shredded heart.

____

__

AC 225

Lela hung up the phone happily. She turned to Anthony with a coy smile on her face. He looked up from his book and saw her. 

"What?" He asked. 

"That was Jay." She said simply. Anthony smiled. 

"That's good. He called last week, right?"

"Yeah." Lela said.

"What did he want to say?" Anthony asked, returning his attention to the book.

"Something very interesting…" Lela said slyly. Anthony nodded.

"What?"

"Well…other than the fact that he is now dating my cousin Katrina…" She said lightly, with a touch of interest. "He wanted to invite us to Aseka's wedding."

Anthony looked up from his book with ultimate surprise on his face.

"Aseka's wedding?" He screeched. "I thought I'd never see the day." He shook his head in amazement.

"You're telling me." Lela agreed, the smile still glued.

"Kien must be heartbroken." Anthony said, still shaking his head. Lela came up from behind, and wrapped her arms around her husband. 

She leaned in and whispered very lightly,

"Anthony, it _is_ Kien." 


	2. Epilogue for Demons, written by Nimue

AnimeCat: I DIDN'T WRITE THIS!!! My friend, a to-be-authoress very soon, Nimue, wrote this. She had me post it to reduce confusion for Demons fans. I personally think I couldn't have done better if I tried, because she did an AMAZING job(I wonder how many times I've told her that...)  
  
Review!!! And then, when Nimue gets her work out under her own thing R&R her work, too!!!!!  
  
@-------  
  
Note: This takes place right after Dorothy is killed and everyone leaves.   
  
  
Kien watched the retreating figure of DeathsWings until it was no more than a speck among the endless stars of outer space.  
  
"So," he said to no one, "This is how it feels to have your heart broken."  
  
*Baby's black balloon makes her fly  
I almost fell into that hole in your life*  
  
Did Aseka have any idea what she was putting him through? Surely, she had to understand why he had self-detonated. She had even done it once herself.  
  
*And you're not thinking about tomorrow  
'Cause you were the same as me  
But on your knees*  
  
"We are the same…All of us Gundam pilots. We've all had to feel pain and suffering that kids our age wouldn't even dream about." Kien realized he was talking to himself, but it didn't matter anymore.   
  
*A thousand other boys could never reach you  
How could I have been the one?*  
  
Kien remembered the first time he kissed her. He could tell she'd never kissed anyone before, but still, it had been absolutely perfect.  
  
*I saw the world spin beneath you  
And scatter like ice from the spoon  
That was your womb*  
  
Kien turned and started walking back to the shuttle, feeling the hot tears welling up in his eyes.  
  
*Comin' down, the world turned over  
And angels fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder   
Or are you someone's prayer?*  
  
"Well, I hope you're happy, Aseka. You've succeeded in not getting distracted from your mission. And you've lost another friend," Kien said bitterly, unable to keep the tears back any longer.  
  
*You know the lies they always told you  
And the love you never knew*  
  
Kien climbed into the shuttle and started making preparations for takeoff, not bothering to dry his eyes.  
  
*What's the things they never showed you  
That swallowed the light from the sun   
Inside your room*  
  
The shuttle left the hangar and flew off into the eternal darkness of space. Kien watched as his tears formed floating, sparkling beads in the zero gravity inside the shuttle.  
  
*Coming down the world turned over   
As angels fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder  
Always someone's there*  
  
It would probably take an hour to get back to Earth; the shuttle was rather low on fuel and was damaged. Kien closed his eyes and tried not to think about anything.   
  
Suddenly, the light signaling he had a transmission flashed on. Although he really didn't want to talk to anyone, his soldier instinct kicked in and told him to answer it. It was probably Mom or Dad wanting to know if he was OK.   
  
He pressed the button to accept the transmission, and almost immediately ended it when he saw who it was.  
  
For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Kien broke the silence with a simple question:   
  
"Why?"  
  
The violet eyes turned away from him. "I just wanted to say…that I'm sorry." Aseka said, as cold as ever. But there was something else in her voice that Kien couldn't quite put his finger on…  
  
"You damn well should be sorry," Kien said softly, feeling his anger rise.   
  
"And….that I forgive you."  
  
Kien looked at her in shock. This was not what he had expected. "I don't know if I'm ready to forgive /you/ yet. Do you have any idea what you've put me through?"  
  
Aseka was silent for a few seconds. "Yes," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.   
  
*And there's no time left for losing  
When you stand they fall*  
  
"And I am so sorry…You didn't deserve any of it."  
  
Kien wanted to forgive her that very instant, but something in his heart told him that he wasn't ready yet. "You know, there were so many times I wondered why I kept trying to be your friend. You kept pushing me away, even though you knew I cared about you. Do you know why I kept trying? Why I was attempting to make friends with someone who seemed so heartless and incapable of love?"  
  
"Why?" Kien saw her eyes filling with tears, and felt the ache of the last few pieces of his heart.   
  
"Because you cared about me, deep down in that heart I know you have."   
  
  
*Comin' down the world turned over   
And angels fall without you there  
And I go on as you get colder   
All because I'm*  
  
Aseka was crying now. "Please don't cry, Aseka," Kien said, although he was still crying himself.  
  
*Comin' down the years turn over   
And angels fall without you there*  
  
"Where are you going now, Kien?" Aseka asked him.  
  
"Home to the Sanq Kingdom."  
  
"Can I…come with you?" She asked timidly.  
  
"Sure you can."  
  
*I'll go on to bring you home  
And I'll become   
What you became to me*  
  
@-------  
  
AnimeCat: *cries* Just....review........*cries a frikken waterfall* 


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